Social law

What is social law?

The social law is a branch of public law that deals with determining the measures and standards necessary to protect society as a whole in areas such as work, health or education.

Although these social rights cover the entire population, their provisions are especially important for the economically weaker groups. This weakness could cause them to be unable to access essential public services such as health or education..

Social rights are born from the subjective will of the human being. Their status as fundamental rights were recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, approved in 1948. Later, in 1976, they were ratified in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)..

This branch of law is divided, in turn, into several specialties. These are labor law, the right to social security, agrarian law, and immigration law. All of them are aimed at defending the dignity of the human being as such, as well as guaranteeing social peace within the rule of law..

Characteristics of social law

Social law deals with the most important areas for the coexistence of human beings in a society. The norms that this legal branch regulates are related to the basic needs of individuals, which if not covered would affect both personal dignity and social peace..

This type of right is intended for public institutions to intervene to ensure that each human being has these most basic needs covered. This includes all aspects related to equity, equality and the rule of law..

Although there had already been declarations indicating what fundamental human rights were, it was not until after the First World War (1914-1918) that a consensus was reached on them and their scope..

That consensus was the basis for the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Since that date, these rights have been developed in various declarations and covenants around the world. Finally, the UN ratified them in 1988 through the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights..

Main characteristics of social rights

Let's look at the most important characteristics of social rights:

• They are a human and cultural product: social rights have been established by human beings after reaching a consensus on them. It is a subjective construction and closely related to the political and cultural context.
• They have multiple instrumental functions: the simple declaration of the rights collected would not have any importance if measures were not articulated to protect them. Despite that, they are not respected on many occasions.
• They are dynamic rights: their very condition as a cultural product causes the recognized rights and their application to vary..
• Hierarchical norms: the norms collected by social law are ordered according to the importance that has been determined for each right.
• Based on social reality: all social rights must be related to the reality of the society in which they apply.
• Balance of interests: not all social groups have the same interests. Many times, those of some groups are obtained at the expense of those of others. This type of law tries to balance all those interests.
• Search for social peace: without social values ​​that give dignity to individuals, it would not be possible to maintain order.

Branches of social law

Social law has traditionally been divided into four different branches. Each of them has the same importance for society.

Labor law

This branch of social law is dedicated to protecting workers. For this reason, its regulations also affect employers, companies, unions and governments..

Within this branch are issues such as labor legislation, both collective and individual. The first type affects the general regulations governing relations between employees and their bosses, as well as with trade unions. The second affects the rights of each worker.

The right to social security

The right to social security regulates everyone's access to basic services, such as health, education or housing.

These types of rights must maintain several different principles:

• Integrity, which covers the needs of the individual when he loses his means to subsist.
• Flexibility in aspects such as the retirement age, which changes from time to time depending on the work performed or other factors.
• Non-discrimination, since none of the rights to social security collected can be limited for reasons of age, ethnicity, sex, health, religion, etc..

Immigration law

This part of social law encompasses the policies approved by governments to control immigration and deportation of people. Laws on these issues are different in each country and are regulated by international law..

In practice, each country must regulate the time that a person can stay in its territory, their rights and obligations.

Agricultural law

It deals with all legislation on agriculture. Among other aspects, they regulate the rules of exploitation of farmland. In many countries, this branch is essential, since it protects workers dedicated to this activity.

Importance of social law

In the first place, the importance of social law is due to its role in promoting the construction of a more just society. Its regulations control that phenomena such as discrimination, illiteracy, racism or abusive conditions do not appear or diminish at work..

All these phenomena that social law tries to correct are usually grouped under the name of social justice. Trying to make them disappear is essential for social peace to be a reality, that is, that the different groups that live in a society do not confront each other.

Similarly, social law is also essential to ensure that the least developed countries improve their conditions. An example of this are some diseases that are easily treatable in many countries and that, however, can be very serious in others due to lack of resources..

Another field in which social law is of vital importance is education. The right to receive it without discrimination of any kind is one of the ways to improve the future of any community.

Examples of social rights

• Social right to housing.
• Right to a job and a fair wage.
• Right to social security in cases of need (social security, sick leave, unemployment, retirement, maternity, etc.).
• Right to free and quality education.
• Right to a healthy environment, access to culture and all areas of public life in the community.
• Right to health.
• Right to food and food sovereignty.

References

1. UNHCR Spanish Committee. What are social rights and what application do they have? Retrieved from eacnur.org
2. Help in Action Foundation. What are social rights and how to apply them. Obtained from ayudaenaccion.org
3. Somda, Faasseome Maxime. Social Rights. Retrieved from jusmundi.com
4. European Commission. The European Pillar of Social Rights in 20 principles. Obtained from ec.europa.eu
5. Council of Europe. Social rights and Enter! Recommendation. Obtained from coe.int