A/HRC/23/35
into the domestic legal framework. However, they may also encourage
governments to refer alleged legislative deficiencies to courts for advice, they
can support and promote national human rights institutions and civil society
actors, and they can promote public legal aid for rights-based claims. Perhaps
most importantly, they can lend their democratic legitimacy to legal and quasilegal decisions on the right by promoting government action on
recommendations and legal findings. In many cases, a legal decision places a
requirement on governments to enact policy and legal changes to protect the
rights of citizens. Support of the legislative branch provides democratic strength
for these decisions, and publicizes the importance of the right to education
among the population.
Educating the public
(m) Knowledge regarding the means by which violations of the right to
education can be adjudicated is often possessed least by those who need it most.
Disadvantaged and marginalized groups in society lack resources to engage
legal assistance, and are often unaware of quasi-legal mechanisms, such as the
individual complaint procedure of the Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
(n)
Governments have the primary responsibility to disseminate such
information. However, the media and civil society can play an important role in
sharing information with disadvantaged groups, and should be engaged and
supported where possible. The national education system should also inform
students, teachers and parents of their respective rights and obligations, and
how violations, when they arise, should be addressed, ranging from parent teacher interviews and school administrative complaint procedures, to national
human rights mechanisms and even international mechanisms where applicable.
In particular, low-cost or free mechanisms, including those available through
national or regional human rights bodies, UNESCO’s complaints and
communication procedure, and the Optional Protocol should be made widely
known.
Promoting research and studies on the justiciability and collaboration with academic
institutions
(o)
The research community, particularly universities, may usefully
promote the right to education by publishing research on the application of national
and international law on national educational practices.
(p)
Legal educators, especially law faculties, should promote teaching,
research and studies on the right to education, particularly regarding its enforcement
and justiciability. These can focus on how the international legal obligations for the
right to education as a fundamental right are integrated into constitutions and laws,
and how national jurisdictions are endowed with effective enforcement mechanisms
for protecting the right to education. The intellectual community can play an
important role in promoting better understanding of substantive as well as procedural
matters and avenues available for safeguarding the right to education. Collaboration
between academic institutions and civil society organizations can be very useful in this
respect.
83.
The application of the above recommendations is aimed at strengthening the
laws, institutions and procedures surrounding the justiciability of the right to
education. However, it must be recognized that all such measures are for naught if the
State refuses to implement the findings and recommendations of courts or quasi23
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