CHRAJ, GBA organise seminar on human rights

Accra, Oct 31, GNA- Mr. Kofi Quashigah, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Ghana, on Monday said the Bench and the Bar must adopt an activist approach to the interpretation of constitutional provisions on human rights to push for a fuller realization of the rights and welfare of the people.

He said the conscious approach of using the instrumentality of the Courts to push for the judicial enforcement of the economic rights is a duty the Bar and the Bench must pursue if they are to maintain their relevance on these matters.

Mr. Quashigah made the suggestion in a paper at the Second Annual Human Rights lecture in Accra, organised jointly by the Commission on Human Rights And Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, a civil society organization.

Speaking on the theme: "Realising Socio-Economic Rights under the 1992 Constitution: Prospects and Challenges", Mr. Quashigah observed that there had been an obvious general failure in the nation's law practice to articulate legal issues from a human rights perspective. "From the look of things, one had the feeling that the Bar and the Bench in Ghana have developed an apologetic attitude in favour of governments... the truth of the matter is that those who aspire to serve their people in the high office of government must be made to understand that the people now have rights to basic necessities of life for which government has a responsibility to provide those basics." Citing instances in India and South Africa, Mr. Quashigah stated instances where the Supreme Courts compelled the Government to provide sanitary and accommodation facilities to people and places where they were needed.

The Law Don said the Ghanaian Constitution does not stop the courts to enforce economic, social and cultural rights. He observed that there was a lack of reference to international instruments on human rights in the legal profession and the national law reports.

Mr Quashigah called for the support of the CHRAJ, the Human Rights non-governmental organizations and civil society groups to ensure that Government respected any relevant decision of the courts on human rights, and also adopted serious attitude towards the progressive realization of the economic and social rights of the people.

"The biggest challenge therefore is for the legal profession to undergo a conceptual change and begin to see its duties as not limited to the traditional practice of working to protect the narrow interests of the individuals but more important the rights of the generality to the basics of life," Mr Quashigah said.

Dr Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, also Law Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, in a paper on the New Disability Law, praised the recognition of the rights of Persons With Disability in the Constitution and the passage of the Disability Bill.

He said the social and economic rights were fundamental to the enjoyment of civil rights, which should be seen as necessary and essential for the realization of the rights of the disabled. Dr Appiagyei-Atua observed however, that the new Disability Act made no provision against the discrimination of the rights of the disabled, did not have a gender dimension for women with disabilities, and also did not provide for the creation of the Council on Disability which was proposed in the Bill.

He suggested that the omissions could be addressed through an amendment or through a progressive interpretation of the law by the courts towards attaining a substantive equality to eliminate all indirect discrimination against the disabled. Dr Appiagyei-Atua also suggested that the disabled should be taken from collecting money on the street and rather a bank created for them to care for their needs.

Nii Osa Mills, Chairman of the Human Rights Legal Committee of the GBA, said the nation had made progress in consolidating democracy, but had a long way to go in entrenching human rights. He said human rights were not being enjoyed to the full because of poverty, which was endemic in rural areas. Nii Mills attributed discrimination against the disabled, which he said, was monumental, to ignorance, and called for a halt to their disdainful treatment.