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Minimum core

The level of provision below which a life of dignity becomes impossible, enforceable in court today, with nothing deferred to a later date.

The problem it solves

Socio-economic rights have a long history of being written beautifully and never enforced. A right to housing that a court will not touch is a slogan. The usual escape is the phrase 'progressive realisation', which lets a state postpone indefinitely while remaining formally compliant.

The two-level answer

In this Constitution, the minimum core is immediately enforceable by any person before any court, admits no plea of insufficient resources, and outranks every other claim on the plan. Above the core, a person may require that the measures taken be reasonable: coherent, resourced, capable of progress in a stated time, and attentive to those in greatest need.

The ratchet

Provision once attained is retained. A measure that reduces an attained level is presumed unconstitutional, and the authority that adopted it has the burden of showing necessity, exhausted alternatives, and protection for the worst off.

What fixes the numbers

Organic law specifies each core in quantities, and the specification may only be revised upward. Until it exists, the level furnished in the year before commencement operates as the core.