Human Rights and Public Finance ─ Budgets and the Promotion of Economic and Social Rights

This edited collection addresses some of the most important challenges in contemporary human rights law and practice. Its central theme is the linkage between public finance, particularly budget decisions, and the realization (or not) of economic and social rights. While much academic and political debate on economic and social rights implementation has focused on the role of the courts, this work places the spotlight squarely on those organs of government that have the primary responsibility and the greatest capacity for giving effect to such rights: namely, the elected branches of government. The major actors considered are politicians, public servants, and civil society, with their role in realizing economic and social rights as the book's key focus. It thus makes a crucial contribution to remedying the current imbalance in attention paid by economic and social rights scholars to the legislature and executive vis-a-vis the judiciary. Featuring pioneering work by leading experts in the field of human rights and public finance, this multidisciplinary collection will be of great interest to academics, practitioners, students, and public servants working in the areas of law, human rights, economics, development, and political science.

Aoife Nolan is Professor of International Human Rights Law at the School of Law, Nottingham University.Rory O'Connell is Professor of Human Rights and Constitutional Law at the Transitional Justice Institute/School of Law, University of Ulster.Colin Harvey is Professor of Human Rights Law, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast.