A/HRC/25/31 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 19 December 2013 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-fifth session Agenda items 2 and 3 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Secretary-General on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights Summary The present report, prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 22/5, presents an overview of the scope of and applicable standards relative to the right to access to justice and to an effective remedy for violations of economic, social and cultural rights. It provides a synopsis of the interpretation of this right by United Nations treaty bodies and special procedures mandate holders as an indispensable right for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, focusing on its essential elements and the specific obligations to which it gives rise, and drawing on examples from regional human rights mechanisms. GE.13-19052 *1319052*