Ugandan female lawyers association, FIDA has petitioned the Constitutional Court to nullify what it termed as anti-student freedom clauses in the Health Training Institution Rules and Regulations 2021.
In the petition filed before the Court of Appeal in Kampala, FIDA says that rules and regulations passed by the Ministry of Education and Sports, with approval of the Permanent Secretary to government health training institutions in the country contravene provisions of the 1995 Constitution.
"Regulations 2.9(b) and (e) of the Health Training Institutions' Rules and Regulations, 2021, which require students to report pregnancy that occurs during the course of the training to management, violates the students' right to freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment guaranteed under Articles 24 and 44(a) of the Constitution,” FIDA said in its petition .
According to the female lawyers body, the regulations violate the right to health, guaranteed under Article 45 and Objective XIV of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution
“Regulation 2.9 (c) of the Health Training Institutions' Rules and Regulations, which stipulates that students found pregnant shall be granted leave and report back after delivery and breast feeding the child for a period of six months is a violation of the students' right to freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as guaranteed under Article 24 and 44(a) of the Constitution.”
FIDA avers that the regulation and rule which makes re-admission of students who are found pregnant conditional upon whether or not they had voluntarily reported the pregnancy, and have a good disciplinary and satisfactory academic record is a violation of the students' rights.
The female lawyers body says the regulation which says that male students who are found to be responsible for the pregnancy of a fellow student or any other female who is not his lawful wife, shall have the same measures in Regulation 2.9 (c) and (d) apply to them; contravenes the students' rights.
“The discontinuation of students from health training institutions on account of pregnancy, as a measure of enforcement of regulations 2.9 (c) and (d) of the Health Training Institutions' Rules and Regulations is in contravention of Article 20 and Objective XXVIII (i) (b) of the Constitution, and a violation of the students' right to non-discrimination, guaranteed under Articles 21 and 33 of the Constitution, freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, guaranteed under Articles 24 and 44 (a) of the Constitution, privacy, guaranteed under Article 27 of the Constitution and education guaranteed under Article 30 and objective XIV of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution,” FIDA argues.
The association of female lawyers in Uganda wants court to declare these specific provisions unconstitutional and struck out.
“We see most recently students from the Medical Laboratory Training School in Jinja were discontinued because they were found pregnant which we think is a violation of their rights. While the students have in the interim been allowed to sit their exams, we want to challenge the regulations in which training institutions subject their students to mandatory pregnancy tests against their will. We want court to declare the regulations null and void,” Susan Baluuka, the Strategic Interest Litigation Manager at FIDA Uganda said.
