On October 30, 2014, the French Senate voted yes to the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), confirming the vote of the National Assembly of 26 June 2014. This vote of both chambers of the french parliament confirms France’s ratification of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR.
FIDH welcomes France’s ratification of the Optional Protocol, which represents a significant step forward for the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights, notably by giving victims access to a new recourse mechanism at the international level. However FIDH regrets that France failed to make a declaration to recognize the application of mechanisms of inter-state communications and inquiry procedures enshrined in Articles 10 and 11 of the Optional Protocol.
Read the press release of the French ESCR Platform (in French):