Constitutional Social Rights and Social Human Rights in the Social Security Reform

Abstract

The aim of the project was to find out what kind of conditions the basic social rights provision of the Constitution of Finland (Section 19) and the social human rights provisions of the international human rights treaties set for the ongoing social security reform.

The report contains three parts. The first part describes the current doctrine of the Constitutional Law Committee of the Parliament regarding Section 19 of the Constitution. In the second part of the report, the constitutional social rights provisions as well and the minimum income security schemes of six European countries – the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom – are compared with each other and 
in relation to Finland. In the third part of the report, the alternative ways of organising social security (one basic security benefit, basic income and social account) outlined in the report of the Working Group for Examining Alternative Ways of Organising Social Security are evaluated from the point of view of Section 19 of the Constitution and some other basic rights provisions.

The key conclusion of the project is that Section 19 of the Constitution and other fundamental rights provisions do not set any principled obstacles for the social security reform. Many of the reforms already implemented in some of the reference countries as well as the models outlined by the Working Group for Examining Alternative Ways of Organising Social Security would be constitutionally feasible as long as the conditions examined in the report are taken into account.

Full text (julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi)

Authors

Toomas Kotkas, Anna-Kaisa Tuovinen, Eeva Nykänen, Laura Kalliomaa-Puha

Additional Information

• Peer-Reviewed: no.
• Opan Access: yes.
• Cite as: Kotkas, T., Tuovinen, A., Nykänen, E., & Kalliomaa-Puha, L. (2023). Sosiaaliset perus- ja ihmisoikeudet sosiaaliturvauudistuksessa. (Valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimustoiminnan julkaisusarja, 12.) Valtioneuvoston kanslia. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-448-4