The fight against the criminalization of homelessness in the U.S. has experienced a significant setback with the Supreme Court ruling in Johnson v. Grants Pass. However, the struggle for justice is far from over. More than 600,000 people in America experience homelessness on any given night, with nearly half—250,000—sleeping outside.
This article was first published on Strasbourg Observers on October 29, 2024, and we are grateful for their permission to share it here, with full attribution. This is the link to the original publication.
By Sarah Ganty
FNRS Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLouvain
Date: The complaint was registered on 1 December 2023.
Jurisdiction: Council of Europe – European Committee of Social Rights
Country: Belgium
Legal basis: It relates to Article 16 (the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection), Article 30 (the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion) and Article E (non-discrimination) in conjunction with the relevant provisions of the revised European Social Charter.
Date: The complaint was registered on 3 April 2023.
Jurisdiction: Council of Europe – European Committee of Social Rights
Country: France
Legal basis: It concerns Articles 1 (the right to work), 11 (the right to protection of health), 30 (the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion), 31 (the right to housing) and E (non-discrimination) in conjunction with the aforementioned provisions of the revised European Social Charter.
The UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, [1] Olivier De Schutter, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing,[2] Balakrishnan Rajagopal, have in a letter to the French Government[3] expressed their concern about a draft law increasing penalties for unlawfully occupying housing and commercial buildings.
At its Forty-ninth session, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to non-discrimination in this
In May Amnesty International published a new report[1] assessing the impact of pandemic restrictions across the globe: ‘There is no help for our community: The impact of States’ Covid-19 responses on groups affected by unjust criminalization’. The report is based on an online survey of 54 civil society organizations in 28 countries, FEANTSA being one of them.
