La interpretación y aplicación de la Carta Social Europea, en particular, en materia de extinción del contrato de trabajo

Abstract

The European Social Charter has been a major international axiological reference since its adoption in 1961 and now, in a revised version, by the Council of Europe. However, its legal effectiveness is far from resembling that of the European Convention on Human Rights, signed within the same organization. The Charter is addressed to national legislators and lacks legally coercitive mechanisms to force its correct projection on state legislations. Despite this, this international text, whose political value is undeniable, but which has many limitations in terms of guaranteeing its compliance, has been overanalyzed. In particular, it cannot be accepted that the Spanish judicial bodies consider it possible to inapply, or complement, the state norma provided by the legislator, pretending to apply directly the European Social Charter. The so-called "control of conventionality" has a rather limited scope, as the Supreme Court has just pointed out in two recent rulings.