Are countries that have not ratified the ICESCR bound to protect the right?
There exist four circumstances in which a state that has not ratified the ICESCR may be obligated to respect the right to the benefits of scientific progress. First, any state that has made legal provisions for this right in its domestic law, for example in its constitution, is bound to protect it. Second, to the extent that the rights contained in the UDHR are considered to represent customary international law, all states are bound to protect them. (Customary international law consists of traditional common rules or practice that have become an intrinsic part of the accepted and expected conduct of states and are treated as a legal requirement.) Third, as members of the UN, states are bound to respect fundamental human rights as set out in the UDHR. Fourth, states that have signed but not ratified the ICESCR, such as the United States, are bound not to violate the “object and purpose” of the treaty, including in relation to the right to the benefits of scientific progress.
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