A Guide to Litigating Identity Systems
THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN DIGNITY
63. Identity systems violate the dignity of individuals.
a) The dissent of the Indian Supreme Court in the Aadhaar judgement holds
that the arbitrary exclusion of individuals from benefits and subsidies to
which they are entitled is a violation of dignity.267
b) The dissent of the Indian Supreme Court in the Aadhaar judgement holds
that because social security schemes were introduced to protect the
dignity of the marginalised, exclusion from these schemes as a result of
Aadhaar violates the dignity of the individual.268
c) The dissent of the Indian Supreme Court in the Aadhaar judgement holds
that while efficiency is a significant facet of institutional governance, it
cannot be a justification to compromise dignity.269
d) The Jamaican Supreme Court holds that the right to privacy recognises
that a person’s biometric information is theirs and that they retain control
over that information by virtue of their inherent dignity as free
autonomous beings.270
e) The Jamaican Supreme Court holds that the inherent dignity of all human
beings includes the right of the individual “to be left alone, the right to be
anonymous and to retain control over their home, body, mind, heart and
soul.”271
267 Aadhaar Judgment, Justice K.S. Puttaswamy and Another v. Union of India and Others, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 494
of 2012 & connected matters, ¶ 262 of dissent (2018).
268 Aadhaar Judgment, ¶ 253 of dissent.
269 Aadhaar Judgment, ¶ 13 of dissent.
270 Julian J. Robinson v. The Attorney General of Jamaica, Claim No. 2018HCV01788, ¶247(B)(10) (2019).
271 Julian J. Robinson, ¶ 247(B)(11).
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