| Summary: | This thesis asks the following fundamental question: to what extent can economic and social rights be made effective through law? Because this question touches at once upon the effectiveness of these rights and on their status as norms of positive law, attempting to answer it requires first, an openness to other disciplines, and subsequently, to the question of the respect and control of these norms, namely that of sanction. From the outset, a preliminary and multidisciplinary analysis of the issue of contemporary poverty hints at an undeniable deviation with "pure legal theory". Moreover, economic and social rights are becoming more and more tangible in national legislation and more frequently invoked before the court (who is turn are showing a growing openness). 'Hard law' does have a place in this implementation, notably a symbolic one. Thus, the first part is dedicated to the determination of the role of 'hard law' as well as to the relevance of judicial activism. Given the limitations of 'hard law', the second part examines the issue of alternate courses of State action as opposed to any other demands for rights. Two forms of 'soft' and 'reflexive' law will then be examined in the interest of rendering economic and social rights effective: respectively from within the State, and from outside its framework. First, strategic planning (accompanied by outcome-based management) may serve to coordinate the State apparatus in the struggle against poverty. In what concerns the role of law at a societal level and in the context of a complex society, societal guidance will be preferred to impose strategic planning. In this way, it will be possible to shed light on other forms of sanction, which may be complimentary to legal ones. Finally, it is necessary to establish certain control and follow-up mechanisms of this category of rights, more relevant and innovative in order to garner a greater effectiveness of economic and social rights.
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