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 right to peaceful assembly and the COVID-19 pandemic: a threatened right; an ironic connection
Posted: 21 May, 2020 Filed under: Foluso Adegalu | Tags: Absolute prohibition, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Constitutions, article 11, Bill of Rights, COVID-19, government, international law, national security, Non-prohibition, pandemic, Partial prohibition, peaceful assembly, physical distancing, physical gathering of persons, public safety, social distancing, The right to peaceful assembly 2 Comments
Author: Foluso Adegalu
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
The right to peaceful assembly enables individuals to express themselves collectively and to participate in shaping their societies and can be of particular importance to marginalised and disenfranchised members of society. The right to peaceful assembly entails a legitimate use of the public space. Although the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly is normally understood to pertain to the physical gathering of persons, comparable human rights protections also apply to acts of collective expression through digital means, for example online gatherings.
The right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed under both international and national laws. The right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed under article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which provides that:
every individual shall have the right to assemble freely with others. The exercise of this right shall be subject only to necessary restrictions provided for by law in particular those enacted in the interest of national security, the safety, health, ethics and rights and freedoms of others.
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