Four petitioners—including the Center for Health, Human Rights & Development (CEHURD) and two family members of women who died during childbirth—appeal the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of their petition in which they alleged that the government violated the Constitution by failing to provide basic maternal health services and that health workers’ negligence led to the death of expectant mothers during childbirth.
Since the Constitutional Court already has the original file for the petition, they will only need to recall it and assign a hearing date for the case as directed by the Supreme Court. Litigants and other stakeholders however need to closely follow up the matter and ensure that the hearing is not unduly delayed.
This case is highly significant in a country which, according to the World Health Organization, has a maternal mortality ratio of 310 (per 100,000 live births) (2010). The litigation and accompanying advocacy have highlighted the large number of preventable maternal deaths and have raised questions regarding governmental obligations with regard to health.
Furthermore, by holding that the political question doctrine has limited applicability in Uganda, the Supreme Court has emphasized that government policy, acts, and omissions in the health and other sectors are subject to judicial review to ascertain their constitutionality. In so doing, the judiciary has protected access to courts and taken another step towards recognizing the justiciability and enforceability of the right to health and other socio-economic rights. The case also restores confidence to potential ESCR litigants who had been discouraged by the precedent set by the Constitutional Court.
(Updated November 2015)
Center for Health, Human Rights & Development (CEHURD), Coalition to Stop Maternal Mortality in Uganda, and ESCR-Net member, the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER). CEHURD, one of the petitioners , had put together a team of lawyers to discuss the arguments and frame the appeal issues in this case. ISER was part of that legal advisory team.