The Social Rights Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal of Peru

Abstract

In its interpretation and application of the 1993 Political Constitution of Peru (CP), using international instruments and Peruvian legislation, the Constitutional Tribunal of Peru (CTP) has construed strong jurisprudence on social rights. Generally, this case law has meaningfully contributed towards the realization of social rights in Peru in a context characterized by a fast-growing social market economy and substantial reductions of poverty and extreme poverty, but with important deficits in terms of fair distribution of wealth. Using international human rights law sources (IHRL), this article systematizes and analyzes important CTP jurisprudential developments concerning interpretation, improvement, and implementation of social rights in Peru. The focus is on the identification of jurisprudential principles and standards on social rights (e.g., education, pension, and labour rights), including, as a manner of further illustration, a section on the right to health. Arguably, CTP jurisprudence has mainly followed dynamic or evolutive interpretative approaches in cases of social rights. The CTP has, however, occasionally adopted retrogressive interpretations of social rights.