Professor Dr. Selin Esen
Faculty of Law, Ankara University (Turkey)
Date: 21.04.2026, 6:00 p.m.
Venue: Room L603, 6th floor | Faculty of Law | Sigmund Freud University | Lassallestraße 3, 1020 Vienna
Social rights are fundamental to human dignity and the meaningful exercise of civil liberties. While constitutionalizing these rights reflects a commitment to a “minimum standard of living”, global constitutional systems vary significantly-ranging from treating social rights as mere programmatic aspirations to recognizing them as directly justiciable entitlements.
This presentation explores how courts bridge this gap using two primary techniques: direct recognition (derived from dignity, equality, or the social state principle) and indirect protection (linking social rights to classical rights such as the right to life or property). By analyzing diverse jurisdictions, I explore key doctrinal tools such as “minimum core” or “vital minimum” approach, proportionality or reasonableness review, and the principle of non-retrogression.
Furthermore, the presentation contrasts assertive judicial models with more deferential ones, with a specific focus on the US Supreme Court and the Turkish Constitutional Court. Particular attention will be given to the tension between constitutional text and judicial practice in the Turkish context, where an extensive constitutional catalogue of social rights and the principle of the social state often encounter a cautious and indirect judicial practice.
Ultimately, I argue that constitutional courts possess significant normative and interpretative capacity to shape the trajectory of social justice. Whether they act as facilitators, guardians, or restraining forces depends not only on constitutional design but also on judicial philosophy and the willingness to treat social rights as integral components of constitutional democracy rather than as secondary policy commitments.
Please register until 20.04.2026: konrad.lachmayer@jus.sfu.ac.at
Biography
Selin Esen is the professor of constitutional law and Chair of the Department of Constitutional Law at Ankara University, Faculty of Law. She serves as the First-vice President of the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Human Rights Center of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. With extensive experience in constitutional design, she served as an academic consultant to the Constitutional Reconciliation Committee of the Turkish Parliament during the 2011-2013 drafting process for a new constitution. In 2025, she was honored with the prestigious Hector Fix-Zamudio International Law Research Prize, presented by the Legal Research Institute (UNAM). Professor Esen is fluent in English and Spanish in addition to her native Turkish. Her research focuses on judicial review, fundamental rights and freedoms, rule of law and comparative constitutional law. She has published extensively in Turkish, English, and Spanish on topics including secularism, political parties, constitutional complaint, constitutional adjudication, emergency regimes, internet freedom, freedom of movement, and gender equality in Turkish, English and Spanish.
The Discussion Group on Comparative Constitutional Law and Theory is organised by Prof. Konrad Lachmayer and Dr. Andreas Orator at the Sigmund Freud Private University, Faculty of Law, in Vienna.