Introducing new rights Editorial Stabroek News January 13, 2001 Some new human and social rights have been introduced by the Constitution Amendment (No 5) Act, another in a series of laws which seeks to give effect to the recommendations of the Constitution Reform Commission as approved by the Oversight Committee. First, some of the "principles and bases of the political, economic and social system" have been retained from the l980 constitution though in somewhat amended form. For example, Article 22 which provided for the right and the duty to work has been repealed and replaced by a shorter provision which says that every citizen has the right to be rewarded according to the nature, quality and quantity of his or her work. Article 27 which gives every citizen the right to free education from nursery to university is retained and a subsection is added requiring the State to include curricula "designed to reflect the cultural diversities of Guyana and disciplines that are necessary to prepare students to deal with social issues and to meet the challenges of the modern technological age". There are other clauses in this section that deal with women's participation in decision making, a clean environment, the interests of children (formal education is compulsory up to the age of fifteen years), and the public service being free from political influence (no public officer shall be required to execute "irregular" acts). A new Article 39 then says that it is the duty of Parliament, the Government, the courts and other public agencies to be guided in the discharge of their functions by these principles and that "Parliament may provide for any of those principles to be enforceable in any court or tribunal". How will a court be guided by a principle which is not enforceable? This is a classic example of muddled thinking. The new Article 39 is a rehash of the old Article 39. The legislature has retained social rights, introduced into the l980 constitution from precedents in socialist constitutions, which the country is in most cases quite unable to implement. Many had argued then that these "statements of intention", so to speak, have no place in a traditional constitution in common law countries and devalue the constitution. There are some interesting and valuable new clauses in other parts of the constitution. A paragraph is added to Article l38 to ensure that persons shall not be subject to capital punishment for crimes committed while they were under l8. Under Article l39 persons who are arrested must now be brought before a court within 72 hours (it used to be as soon as reasonably practicable) but the police can apply to the court for extensions of time. The protection for property owners in the original l966 constitution has been restored and if property is acquired by the State compensation must be adequate and paid promptly. Article l47 which deals with freedom of association and assembly is expanded to include the right to demonstrate peacefully, the right to strike and the right of trade unions and employees to enter into collective agreements. The protection against discrimination in Article l49 is extended to include the grounds of age, disability, marital status, gender, language, sexual orientation, birth, social class, pregnancy, religion, conscience, belief and culture. Finally, some completely new rights are added which include the right of public sector workers to pensions granted under any law, equality of status for children born out of wedlock, equality for women in all spheres of life and the right to open a private school. Citizens are also entitled to all rights granted in the international treaties to which Guyana is a party, described in the fourth schedule. The State can limit its obligations under any of these treaties provided two thirds of the members of the National Assembly vote in favour. Persons who claim any of their rights under these treaties have been infringed can apply to the Human Rights Commission for redress. This all adds up to a very substantial package of new rights, some of which are of immediate value such as the limitation on detention after arrest. Yet one cannot avoid feeling a strong sense of unreality about much of the new legislation. Take the recent law making statements that can cause racial hatred a criminal offence and providing draconian penalties for breaches including the disbarring of a political party. Can one really see such a law being enforced during a political campaign, when the politicians are of course the main offenders? In the same way, have any of our lawmakers sought to think out the ramifications of many of these new rights and the cost of implementing them? One strongly suspects that that is not the case. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today