The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice of Ghana in Retrospect

Abstract

The role of quasi-judicial bodies is without doubt of golden importance especially in our part of the world considering our adversarial system and the reactive nature of the courts which makes the regular courts unable to ensure the full enforceability of human rights. In our part of the world, many victims of human rights violations due to illiteracy are unaware of their rights and thus are unable to exercise the enforcements and protection of their rights in the courts. Also, some victims due to financial constraints or the fear of unending litigation shy away from the courts. This and many more justify the establishment of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) as a human rights institution since it supplements the role of the court by increasing public awareness through education as well as conducting its functions in such a manner so as to promote the protection of the fundamental human rights provisions enshrined under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. In recent times the Supreme Court of Ghana has, through decided cases, defined the scope of CHRAJ’s mandate thereby outlining the jurisprudence of its mandates. This paper would take the form of a combination of a Prescriptive and Descriptive study analyzing the scope of CHRAJ’s mandate under the 1992 Constitution as well as relevant laws whilst resorting to some decisions of the Supreme Court so as to ascertain the scope of CHRAJ’s mandate at present. Thereafter, recommendations would be proposed aimed at ensuring the effectiveness of CHRAJ in line with its aim of promoting and protecting the fundamental human rights of the citizenry especially by resorting to the functions of similar institutions in other jurisdictions. The study, thus, is very significant because CHRAJ has a critical role to play in promoting and protecting human rights and integrity. In light of Ghana’s political and legal history, it is expedient that CHRAJ maintains its widespread but properly controlled investigative role since it provides a low-cost access to the enforcement of human rights, bypassing the high cost of access to the judicial system. It thus has the potential of extending the reach of fundamental human rights to many ordinary people and protection for them from abuse of power, corruption and unfair treatment by public officials.