UGANDA INTER-UNIVERSITY
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW MOOT COURT PROBLEM
Get Ready Uganda and One Other v. the Attorney General
The following case was brought under Article 137 of the
Uganda Constitution.
The lead Petitioner in the Case is “Get Ready, Here I Come!
Uganda” (Hereinafter “Get Ready”).
Get Ready is a Ugandan corporation and a registered Non Governmental
Organisation. Get Ready is
dedicated to the promotion of the health of unborn children.
The other petitioner is Nakato Joan as legal representative
of Jangu Adam. Adam is a 7
month-old fetus that Nakato Joan is carrying.
Get Ready Uganda has chosen not to include any born human
petitioners in this case. Some
argue that Get Ready is merely using this issue as a back door means of
establishing the personhood of the unborn in Uganda. Get Ready is largely funded by the American pro-life organization
Focus on the Faith.
Get Ready filed a petition seeking the provision of folic
acid to all women of childbearing age in Uganda. Adequate folic acid intake during the preconception period
(which is the time right before and just after a woman becomes pregnant) helps
protect against a number of congenital malformations, including neural tube
defects. Neural tube defects are
severe abnormalities of the central nervous system that develop in babies
during the first few weeks of pregnancy resulting in malformations of the
spine, skull, and brain; the most common neural tube defects are spina bifida
and anencephaly. The risk of
neural tube defects is significantly reduced when supplemental folic acid is
consumed in addition to a healthy diet before conception and during the first
month after conception.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health decided to adopt a programme for
the provision of folic acid to pregnant mothers and women seeking to become
pregnant in 2007. However, every
year since 2007 the budgetary allocation for folic acid has been cut. The only folic acid provided to
pregnant mothers and women seeking to become pregnant since that time has been
offered through donor funds or has been purchased by individuals. The Ministry of Health said that it has
had to make the decision to cut the folic acid programme each year due to a
reduction in the funds it has received from the Central Government. It reasons that it must cut costs
associated with the purchase of medicines and medical equipment because it must
use all allocated funds on staff and building maintenance in order to avoid
staff layoffs and to ensure proper upkeep of existing facilities.
The Petitioners assert that all of the unborn in Uganda have
the right to have their mothers provided with folic acid. This is based on an alleged right to
health. They assert that the
unborn have a heightened right to government health provision as they are not
in the position to provide for themselves.
Get Ready is seeking a variety of forms of relief which
include the requirement that folic acid supplements be added to all flour in
Uganda, that folic acid tablets be provided to all women of childbearing age,
that women of child bearing age be provided with a government sponsored
supplement to defray the cost of folic acid tablets, that the Ministry of
Health be forced to make other budget cuts that do not directly effect health
to the same extent as cutting the folic acid programme that the Ministry of
Health adopted in 2007, or any other form of relief that the court can order
which would improve the availability and provision of folic acid to women of
child bearing age.
The Constitutional Court heard the case. They struck down the petition. In a one sentence holding the
Constitutional Court held that the petition was barred by the political
question doctrine citing their recent decision in Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) and Three
Others v. Attorney General, Constitutional Petition No. 16 of 2011, UGCC,
available at http://www.ulii.org/ug/judgment/constitutional-court/2012/4.
Get Ready filed a timely appeal with the Supreme Court of
Uganda. The Supreme Court has set
the matter down for immediate oral argument along with the pending CEHURD case. Counsel for Get Ready will argue the case for the
Petitioners and the Office of the Attorney General will argue the case for the
Respondent
The Supreme Court has asked the petitioners to offer oral
argument on the following issues:
1. Are the
petitioners proper parties to bring a petition under Article 137?
2. Is there a
right to health in Uganda?
3. Is the right
to health judicially enforceable?
4. Do the
unborn have a right to health in Uganda?
5. Is the
forced purchase and/or provision of folic acid a judicial remedy that the Court
is empowered and authorised to grant?
Note this problem is subject to revision by the moot
organizers. This draft is dated 9
November 2014.
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