CHRAJ wants labour court to be established

Accra, Nov. 17 Mr Emile Francis Short, Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), today called for the establishment of a labour tribunal to reduce the volume of labour- related petitions before it.

The Commissioner said labour-related cases have constituted over 50 per cent of all petitions filed with the Commission.

Mr Short said this in Accra when he took his turn at the meet-the-press series for non-ministerial state institutions.

He said balancing the high volume of labour- related complaints against other areas of its legislative mandate that are equally compelling is a major challenge facing the Commission.

Mr Short said some of the labour issues are of human rights nature such as allegations of workplace discrimination based on sex and age.

However, majority of cases concern non- payment of end-of-service benefits, wrongful dismissal, termination of employment and victimisation, among other things.

"For these reasons, we wish to call for the implementation of the provision in section 31 of the Industrial Relations Act which calls for the establishment of an Unfair Labour Practices Tribunal in Ghana.

"It is hoped that the creation of a well-resourced tribunal, with competent and expert personnel, will allow for the expeditious processing of those purely labour cases clogging the Commission's complaints processing system".

The CHRAJ which draws it legal strength from Act 456 of 1993 is empowered to investigate complaints of violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, injustices and corruption, abuse of power and unfair treatment by public officers.

The broad scope of the Commission's legal responsibilities cut across the social strata, including the environment and cultural practices.

But the numerous labour cases have grossly overburdened the resources of the Commission to the disadvantage of other human rights issues.

Mr Short said the labour tribunal, therefore, "will greatly relieve the commission's overburdened staff and enable them to adequately focus on other areas of its mandate."

One other area of the Commission's mandate, which the Commissioner said would be pursued in the coming years, is public education on human rights.

Under the Commission's educational initiatives CHRAJ will focus not only on ways to enhance public awareness about rights and responsibilities "but also on how to maintain a human rights culture and ensure administrative justice throughout the country."

CHRAJ last year embarked on a series of educational campaigns aimed at reaching the rural folks and explaining their fundamental human rights.

"We plan to sustain this programme of reaching the rural population," Mr Short said, and called for support from donors.

The Commissioner also touched on ''dehumanising cultural practices'' such as trokosi, and female genital mutilation.

"We continue to be opposed to any degrading and dehumanising cultural practice," Mr Short said, and promised to wage a vigorous public educational campaign on these issues.

As a starting point for his educational efforts, the Commissioner urged the public to file any petition with the Commission "if they believe that they have suffered unjust demolition of their house or structure for which they had all the appropriate documents."

He assured the public of non-interference from government in the operations of the Commission.

"Indeed, the impartiality, independence and neutrality of CHRAJ have remained intact at all times.

"And we are determined to maintain this state of affairs".