Critique of socio-economic rights provisions under chapter two of the Nigerian Constitution and their justiciability
Human rights became a global issue after the atrocity and barbaric genocide unleashed on over six million Jews, Sinti, and Romani (Gypsies), homosexuals, persons with disabilities and the 'Negro' (blacks) during the second world war by Nazis regime of Germany. Initially, individuals'...
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University of Pretoria
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62563 Ezechukwu, PO 2017, Critique of socio-economic rights provisions under chapter two of the Nigerian Constitution and their justiciability, LLM Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62563> |
| Summary: | Human rights became a global issue after the atrocity and barbaric genocide unleashed
on over six million Jews, Sinti, and Romani (Gypsies), homosexuals, persons with
disabilities and the 'Negro' (blacks) during the second world war by Nazis regime of
Germany. Initially, individuals' rights were not the subject of international law, because
the norm of the international law is to regulate relationship amongst member states as
sovereign nations; thus, United Nations [(UN) founded in 1945] were reluctant to
interfere in state parties' affairs. The unfortunate wanton abuse and violation of human
rights at the domestic level by governments of the state parties were not addressed, as
such issues are the remit of nationals; until it culminated to genocide, crimes against
humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes which received an international attention
at Nuremberg and Tokyo trials of the Nazis war generals and the subsequent punishment
of the defeated countries' officials. From this point, individuals became subject of
international law with the subsequent declaration of human rights in 1948. Charged with
the peace and security; promotion of human dignity and economic wellbeing of the world,
the UN established Economic and Social Council [(ECOSOC) in article 7 of UN Charter
1945] with the responsibility to initiate studies and to report on international level socioeconomic
matters. Invariably, article 68 of UN Charter empowered The Council to set up
commissions for promotion of human rights. Subsequently, Human Rights Commission
(HRC) was established and headed for the first time by Ms. Elizabeth Roosevelt (the wife
of then president Franklin Roosevelt of America). The Commission prepared the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration or UDHR), 10 December 1948 which
was a declaratory standard of human rights promotion and protection expected of the
state parties and not legal binding document. An international legal binding instrument
was sought for; in 1966, HRC created International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights (CESCR) with the twin document, International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (CCPR) which form the International Bill of Rights together with Universal
Declaration. CESCR and CCPR are meant to be complimentary and indivisible but due to western bloc politics and cold war; western scholars privileged civil and political rights
above economic, social, and cultural rights; arguing that CPR is expressed in clear
language and does not place an obligation on government for their implementation:
Whereas ESC rights depends on government to perform their obligations to guarantee
them and is expressed in vague language which renders it unenforceable. They maintain
that socio-economic rights are political aspirations/goals or directive objectives of state
policies which can only be realized progressively and not of immediate actualization or
enforcement. This poor attitude towards socio-economic rights led so many countries of
the world including Nigeria to treat ESCR as fundamental objectives of government policy
to be progressively realized. In Nigeria jurisdiction, the issue of locus standi, was a clog
on the wheel of litigating socio-economic rights; however, this issue has been put to rest
by the Chief Justice of Nigeria who made a new rule of court in section 3(e) of
Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, which provides that no human
rights case should be struck out or dismissed on the grounds of want of locus standi. The
dissertation will be making comparative analysis of two legal systems comprising India
and Nigeria as common law countries and as an emerging economy, although India is
well ahead of Nigeria right now and both countries' Constitutions made socio-economic
rights Directive Principle of State Policy (DPSP). The study enunciates the definition and
historical development of human rights from the inception of UN and delves into the
challenges in the two countries chosen as samples of the research, and considers the
virile attitude of India's judicial authority towards a liberal interpretation of socioeconomic
rights and juxtaposes it with Nigeria's dismal and reluctant attitude towards
implementation and enforcement of ESC rights. The work proceeded to prove that socioeconomic
rights can be justiciable in Nigeria, if the judicial attitude in administration of
justice can positively change to that of enforcement driving. It drew lessons from Indian
system and what could be emulated from their integral approach and public interest
litigation, because the world attitude towards ESC rights has revamped towards
enforceability and concludes with recommendations === Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017. === Centre for Human Rights === LLM === Unrestricted |
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