Licence denied: The legal roadblocks facing deaf drivers in Africa – Reflections on Musukwa & others v Road Transport and Safety Agency
Posted: 30 June, 2025 Filed under: Jeff Barker, Michael Gyan Nyarko | Tags: adequate standard of living, African Charter, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, deaf drivers, dignity, disability, equal protection of the law, freedom of movement, human rights, human rights instruments, limitation of rights, public safety, right to employment, right to non-discrimination, Supreme Court of Zambia 1 Comment |
Author: Jeff Barker Intern, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa |
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Author: Michael Gyan Nyarko Deputy Executive Director, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) |
Introduction
In a 2024 decision the Supreme Court of Zambia denied an application by three deaf drivers who had taken Zambia’s licensing authority to court.[1] The applicants argued that they were refused a drivers licence solely on the basis of their disability. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court of Zambia found that the licencing process was not discriminatory, and, therefore, there was no need for the government to justify a limitation of rights. The refusal to issue driver’s licences to deaf individuals has implications on several rights, including the right to non-discrimination and equal protection of the law, dignity, freedom of movement and the right to employment and an adequate standard of living, among others. The decision of the Supreme Court of Zambia therefore raises several human rights issues which are more extensively discussed by the authors in a forthcoming journal article. In this brief piece, we share some reflections on the limitation of rights under the African Charter and in particular what would be required of a state, within the African regional human rights system, to justify limiting the rights of deaf drivers?
The misconceptions in section 35 (1)(e) of the Nigerian constitution and the right to liberty of persons with mental disability
Posted: 25 August, 2022 Filed under: Abasiodiong Ubong Udoakpan | Tags: addicted to drugs, compulsory detention, constitution, Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, human rights instruments, incompetency, mental disability, mental health, mental illness, negative stereotypes, Nigeria, psychosocial disabilities, right to liberty, unsound mind Leave a comment
Author: Abasiodiong Ubong Udoakpan
Data Protection Advisor, Researcher and a Human Rights Lawyer
The basic principle of any type of essential psychosocial care, is to respect the safety, dignity and rights of anyone you are helping, but can this be excused? An aspect of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) appears to be particularly challenging to conventional mental health practice. This concerns involuntary treatment. Along with the general right to liberty, similar to that contained in other human rights instruments, the CRPD provides that ‘the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty,[1] but what happens when the Constitution set out standards and procedures by which psychiatric interventions can be imposed against the will of a person?
The Status of Women’s Reproductive Rights in Africa
Posted: 11 March, 2022 Filed under: Satang Nabaneh | Tags: Beijing Declaration, essential services, female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, HIV, human rights instruments, lack of information, Maputo Protocol, maternal mortality, Sexual and reproductive health, sexual and reproductive rights Leave a comment
Author: Satang Nabaneh
Post-doctoral Fellow, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Sexual and reproductive health and rights has been recognized to be embodied in human rights instruments. The achievement of sexual and reproductive health relies on realizing sexual and reproductive rights. This means that States have general obligations to respect, protect and fulfill these rights. Despite these obligations, violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are evident, including denial of essential services such as obstetric care, lack of high-quality care, access to safe abortion, female genital mutilation (FGM), and early marriage. With regard to HIV infections, the WHO African region remains the most severely affected, with nearly 1 in every 25 adults (3.6%) living with HIV and accounting for more than two-thirds of the people living with HIV worldwide.
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