Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Jan Kratochvíl
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Palacký University Olomouc
The Possibility of Individual Actions Claiming Violations of Social Rights
Jurisprudence 3/2019 Section: Articles Page: 28–35
Keywords: social rights, constitutional appeal, rationality test
Abstract: The article presents arguments for the thesis that judicial protection of social rights through individual actions and individual constitutional appeals is possible. Social rights are individual subjective rights and as such, they must be judicially protected. The practice of the Constitutional Court and of other courts shows that individuals can directly claim violations of their social rights. These individual actions and appeals should be typically reviewed by using the rationality test. An individual may, together with a constitutional appeal, also claim the repeal of the law because of a conflict with their social rights. Although the latter issue is rather academic as the Constitutional Court's chambers act as a filter for these proposals and there is thus no practical difference compared to the power of the chambers to institute these proceedings proprio motu.
