Today, it is undeniable that the application of law can no longer be confined to the use of domestic legal norms alone. It necessarily entails a constant and complex, and therefore demanding , dialogue with other domains of the legal system, particularly with rules and normative principles issued by international or regional organisations, especially those of the European sphere of which Portugal is a member.

Such rules and principles serve, first and foremost, as interpretative references for domestic provisions whose axiological and normative foundations they often inform. Yet they may also, in themselves, provide solutions to legal problems that the national order, taken in isolation, fails to resolve adequately. It is likewise essential to understand how these transnational legal domains interact, particularly when the terms of such interaction are not expressly defined in the relevant normative instruments.

The Observatory for the Protection of Social Rights in the European Context was created to promote reflection on the impact of these legal instruments within Portuguese law, both in legislation and in case law, assessing their conformity with supranational legal standards.

Given that the mission of the Portuguese Delegation of the Academic Network on the European Social Charter and Social Rights (ANESC) / Réseau Académique sur La Charte Sociale Européenne et Les Droits Sociaux (RACSE) is the study of social rights, particularly in light of the Revised European Social Charter and the European Code of Social Security, these instruments are placed at the core of the Observatory’s activity.

Nevertheless, its scope is not limited to these texts. In view of their shared institutional origin, the Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights is also taken into account, as well as European Union law and international conventions that may likewise constitute sources of social rights (for instance, within the International Labour Organization or the United Nations). Together, these sources form the legal framework necessary for a multilevel protection of social rights.

Main Areas of Research

• Analysis of the decisions and reports of the European Committee of Social Rights, in relation to the Revised European Social Charter, and of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the European Convention on Human Rights, whenever they have direct or indirect national relevance.

• Examination of Portuguese legislation and case law, with a view to assessing their conformity with the aforementioned international instruments.

• Study of the interplay among international instruments of different origins (Council of Europe, European Union, ILO, United Nations, WTO), and their articulation with national law, in order to identify potential conflicts of norms and evaluate their justiciability and effectiveness.

Review of the decisions and reports of the European Committee of Social Rights concerning Portugal.