Immediate and Progressive Realisation in International Human Rights Law

This book makes a new and original contribution to the old debate about differences between socio-economic and civil and political rights, which has engaged scholars over several decades.

Though the difference is now widely accepted, less attention has been paid to whether it is still valid. This book asks this question, assessing the traditional differentiation in the context of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. By so doing, it shows that these rights converge more than diverge and this accepted difference should be abandoned.

Human rights lawyers, advocates, practitioners and policy makers will find this invaluable as it brings much needed clarification to this key question.