Minimum standards of social rights as a condition for a decent standard of living

Minimum social standards represent thresholds for the observance of social rights that cannot be lowered under any circumstances. Their non-compliance is interpreted as a violation of the constitutional principles of the Welfare State and obligations arising from the human right to a decent standard of living. They express the amount of social rights that can be protected by legal means, and it is in this sense that it is “minimal”. The term “minimum standard” is controversial; There are differences in approaches to this concept in international law and in national States. From the point of view of expressing minimum social standards, the concept of minimum basic obligations, developed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, is considered. The prospects for the development of the concept of minimum standards are related to its application as a legal instrument for establishing State responsibility for violations of social rights, which is used in courts of various countries. The article provides examples from the practice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, clarifying approaches to minimum social standards in various jurisdictions.