RP-Department of Public Law

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Browsing RP-Department of Public Law by Subject "COVID-19"

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    Evaluation of the Demeaning Face of COVID-19 on Labour Relations: a New Challenge for Kenya’s Burgeoning Democracy
    (Italian Labour Law e-Journal, 2020) Junior, Ratemo Tom
    On March 11th 2020, the World Health Organization was forced to declare the novel coronavirus disease a global pandemic after a surge in reported cases of the disease outside China. The disease has adversely affected, inter alia, the economy and healthcare system in several countries including Kenya. To eradicate the pandemic, the Kenyan Government introduced numerous measures designed to control the infection rate which, inter alia, included closing of non-essential businesses and learning centers, restriction of people movements between 7.00pm and 5.00am and implementation of social distancing rules. These measures have compelled several public and private business entities to either shut or scale down their level of operations in order to remain afloat amid the pandemic. The existing Kenyan labour laws neither incorporate provisions on crisis response nor address the issue of employee safety while working from home. This article therefore seeks to delineate the legal implications of the disease on labour relations in Kenya. Besides, a discussion on the shortcomings of the existing labour laws in safeguarding employers and employees’ rights to i.e., health, safety, leave and termination amid the pandemic is undertaken. It finally proposes measures to be undertaken to fix the loopholes in such laws.
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    Intensifying Legal Protection against Human Rights Violations in the Covid-19 Era: A Case Study of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
    (Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd, 2020) Ratemo, Junior Tom
    The coronavirus pandemic has, since its outbreak in late 2019, not only caused a global health care crisis but has also had a negative impact on the exercise of social, economic, cultural and political rights. Vulnerable and marginalised groups in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are among the worst affected. To respond to the crisis, the three East African countries imposed several measures aimed at curtailing the spread of the disease, which included a mandatory 14 days of self-quarantine for persons arriving from abroad; the closure of borders, religious and educational institutions; the suspension of international and domestic flights; the suspension of public court proceedings and gatherings; the imposition of a dusk to dawn curfew; and the restriction of people's movement in certain areas. All these measures in one way or another affect the exercise of fundamental human rights. In the past few months, the number of reported cases of human rights violations has been escalating. This article seeks to highlight the three states' practice of avoiding the 'naming, shaming and prosecuting' of perpetrators of human rights violations during the coronavirus pandemic. It also exposes instances of human rights violations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania during the pandemic. In addition, the paper proposes measures to be undertaken to intensify legal protection against human rights violations during the coronavirus pandemic. Finally, the paper explores the elusive option of making the top state officials legally accountable for individual human rights violations.