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Constitutional Resilience and Limitation of Rights Under Covid-19 Response in South Sudan

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Constitutional Resilience and the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Abstract

This chapter examines how Covid-19 has impacted on constitutional resilience in South Sudan. In particular, it considers how measures have complied or failed to comply with the legal framework on emergency powers and the implications this holds for constitutionalism. This chapter commences with an overview of the country context and then outlines the applicable normative frameworks on emergency powers. The section thereafter discusses the measures adopted and their implications for civil and political rights, as well as certain socio-economic rights. Safeguards, legal and institutional, to such limitations are discussed in the penultimate section. The final section concludes the chapter with key remarks.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    World Health Organization ‘South Sudan: Country information’, https://www.afro.who.int/countries/south-sudan (accessed 13 May 2021).

  2. 2.

    Art. 47 of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan.

  3. 3.

    Data obtained from the country’s national Ministry of Health Covid-19 Task force report of 20 May 2021 and Johns Hopkins University at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/south-sudan (accessed 20 May 2021).

  4. 4.

    WHO ‘South Sudan receives first batch of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility’ (2021) https://www.afro.who.int/news/south-sudan-receives-first-batch-covid-19-vaccines-through-covax-facility (accessed 3 August 2021).

  5. 5.

    See generally Siracusa Principles https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1984/07/Siracusa-principles-ICCPR-legal-submission-1985-eng.pdf (accessed 3 Aug 2021).

  6. 6.

    CM Fombad & LA Abdulrauf ‘Comparative overview of the constitutional framework for controlling the exercise of emergency powers in Africa’ (2020) 20 African Human Rights Law Journal 378.

  7. 7.

    Art. 101(e).

  8. 8.

    See African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ‘Press release of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa on reports of excessive use of force by the police during the COVID-19 pandemic’ (17 April 2020), https://www.achpr.org/pressrelease/detail?id=491 (accessed 17 April 2021).

  9. 9.

    Art. 9(3) of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  10. 10.

    For resolutions issued by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, see https://www.achpr.org/sessions/resolutions?id=478 (accessed 18 May 2021).

  11. 11.

    Art. 189(1) of the Transitional Constitution. See also JG Akech ‘Exacerbated inequalities: Implications of Covid-19 for the socio-economic rights of women and children in South Sudan’ (2020) 20 African Human Rights Law Journal 588.

  12. 12.

    Art. 190(a)-(d) of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  13. 13.

    Ibid., art. 101(r).

  14. 14.

    Art. 1.6.2.12 of the R-RCSS of 2018.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., art. 1.9.3. It is to be noted that the R-ARCSS establishes the offices of the President, First Vice President and four Vice Presidents, which are referred to collectively as ‘the Presidency’.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., art. 1.9.

  17. 17.

    N Kabira & R Kibugi ‘Saving the soul of an African constitution: Learning from Kenya’s experience with constitutionalism during Covid-19’ (2020) 20 African Human Rights Law Journal 436–440 (discussion on how the ‘soul’ of the Kenyan Constitution was tested by Covid-19 pandemic).

  18. 18.

    Akech (n 11) 589.

  19. 19.

    Ibid.

  20. 20.

    Ibid., 590.

  21. 21.

    For detailed analysis of measures adopted, see Akech (n 11) 585 & JG Akech ‘Covid-19 response: Implications on peacebuilding and constitutionalism in South Sudan’ African Network of Constitutional Lawyers 17 June 2020, https://ancl-radc.org.za/node/644 (accessed 30 May 2021).

  22. 22.

    The decree can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm_x0scA4KI (accessed 3 August 2020).

  23. 23.

    Art. 29 of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  24. 24.

    Ibid., art. 23.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., art. 25.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., art. 27.

  27. 27.

    See Kabira & Kibugi (n 17) 459 (discussing relevant provisions on derogation and limitation of rights under Kenya’s Constitution).

  28. 28.

    Akech (n 11) 595.

  29. 29.

    See Preamble to the ICCPR.

  30. 30.

    See part two of the Transitional Constitution detailing the Bill of Rights.

  31. 31.

    Art. 25(1) of the Transitional Constitution.

  32. 32.

    African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ‘Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa’ (2017) 9 para 3 https://www.achpr.org/public/Document/file/English/guidelines_on_freedom_of_association_and_assembly_in_africa_eng.pdf (accessed 20 June 2021).

  33. 33.

    Article 19 ‘Freedom of association and assembly: Unions, NGOs and political freedom in sub-Saharan Africa’ (2001) 2, https://bit.ly/3x8QbDi (accessed 25 June 2021).

  34. 34.

    Art. 23(a) of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  35. 35.

    Ibid., art. 23(h).

  36. 36.

    Ibid., art. 27(1).

  37. 37.

    Ibid., art. 27(2).

  38. 38.

    Ibid., art. 27(1).

  39. 39.

    Akech (n 11) 598 (discussing in detail how education was affected by Covid-19 measures).

  40. 40.

    Ibid., 597. See also Ministry of General Education and Instruction et al. ‘Global initiative on out-of-school children’ (2018) 12, http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/global-initiative-out-of-school-children-south-sudan-country-study.pdf (accessed 27 June 2021); World Vision ‘1.9 million South Sudanese children despair over closure of schools due to Covid-19; mothers worried of the future’ (2020), https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/19-million-south-sudanese-children-despair-over-closure-schools-due-covid-19 (accessed 26 June 2021); African Child Policy Forum ‘Baseline assessment for the implementation of the East Africa Community Child Policy in the Republic of South Sudan’ (2020) 44.

  41. 41.

    See generally SD Kamga ‘Covid-19 and the violation of the right to basic education of learners with disabilities in South Africa: An examination of Centre for Child Law v Minister of Basic Education’ (2021) 65 Journal of African Law 347–360.

  42. 42.

    JA Garang ‘Will the impact of the pandemic on the expected national output persist?’ (2021) 2 https://www.suddinstitute.org/assets/Publications/60b9c59aa6872_WillTheImpactOfThePandemicOnThe_Full.pdf (accessed 5 June 2021).

  43. 43.

    Ibid., 2.

  44. 44.

    MJ Nkhata & AW Mwenifumbo ‘Livelihoods and legal struggles amidst a pandemic: The human rights implications of the measures adopted to prevent, contain and manage Covid-19 in Malawi’ (2020) 20 African Human Rights Law Journal 538.

  45. 45.

    Akech (n 11) 594.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., for detailed analyses.

  47. 47.

    See B Bekink ‘A dilemma of the twenty-first century state: Questions on the balance between democracy and security’ (2005) African Human Rights Law Journal 406.

  48. 48.

    Fombad & Abdulrauf (n 6) 383.

  49. 49.

    ACHPR Guidelines (n 32), Principle IX.

  50. 50.

    Art. 18(3) of the ICCPR.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., art. 221(1).

  52. 52.

    ACHPR Guidelines (n 32) 8.

  53. 53.

    Ibid., para 85.

  54. 54.

    Art. 10 of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  55. 55.

    Ibid., art. 9(1).

  56. 56.

    M Van Staden ‘Constitutional rights and their limitations: A critical appraisal of the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa’ (2020) 20 African Human Rights Law Journal 484–491.

  57. 57.

    Art. 9(2) of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  58. 58.

    Ibid., art. 55(3)(h).

  59. 59.

    Ibid., art 57(a) and (e).

  60. 60.

    Ibid., arts. 189(2) and 101(e).

  61. 61.

    Akech (n 11) 590.

  62. 62.

    Ibid., 593.

  63. 63.

    M Babiker ‘Covid-19 and Sudan: The impact on economic and social rights in the context of a fragile democratic transition and suspended constitutionalism’ (2021) 65 Journal of African Law 323.

  64. 64.

    Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker discusses a similar situation in the Sudan (the state from which South Sudan seceded and which continues to wield considerable influence on socio-political events in the country). ibid., Babiker 323–331.

  65. 65.

    Arts. 9(10) and 128(2)(k) of the Transitional Constitution, 2011 (as amended).

  66. 66.

    Ibid., art. 9(4).

  67. 67.

    The relevant subsections provide viz. ‘ (c) appoint constitutional and judicial posts holders…; (e) declare and terminate a state of emergency in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the law; (f) initiate constitutional amendments and legislation…; (g) convene, summon, adjourn or prorogue the National Legislature…; (r) remove a state Governor and/or dissolve a state legislative assembly in the event of a crisis in the state that threatens national security and territorial integrity; (s) appoint a state care-taker Governor…and (t) perform any other function as may be prescribed by law’ (emphasis added).

  68. 68.

    E Durojaye et al. ‘Introduction: Covid-19 and the Law in Africa’ (2021) 65 Journal of African Law 174.

  69. 69.

    See generally Kabira & Kibugi (n 17) 436–461.

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  1. School of law, University of Juba, South Sudan

    Joseph Geng Akech

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  1. Joseph Geng Akech
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  1. Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance, and Human Rights, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

    Ebenezer Durojaye

  2. Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance, and Human Rights, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

    Derek M. Powell

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Akech, J.G. (2022). Constitutional Resilience and Limitation of Rights Under Covid-19 Response in South Sudan. In: Durojaye, E., Powell, D.M. (eds) Constitutional Resilience and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06401-2_5

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