A Guide to Litigating Identity Systems
INCREASED ENGAGEMENT WITH
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
78. While Mauritius, India, and Jamaica are State Parties to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and therefore have an obligation to
fulfil the rights guaranteed under the Convention, including the right to
privacy, the Convention does not find a mention in the judgments analysed
on the rights implications of identity systems. The Kenyan High Court briefly
mentions the Convention, but little consideration is given to its impact
beyond the existence of a right to privacy.326 The Kenyan High Court’s most
complete engagement with international human rights law is limited to
privacy and data protection principles issued by the OECD and the African
Union, which the court cites in evaluating the data protection framework in
which the Kenyan national identity system operates.327
79. Although the obligations imposed on State Parties to a treaty have
important implications for all national authorities, including the executive and
the legislature, the judiciary is a key actor in reviewing the compatibility of
domestic legislation with international human rights treaties 328 and assessing
whether the state is complying with its international obligations. International
human rights law also fills gaps at the domestic level through a reliance on
international norms and standards. International human rights law can be
understood as “part of a broader set of interrelated, mutually reinforcing
processes and institutions-interwoven strands in a rope-that together pull
human rights forward, and to which international law makes distinctive
326 See Huduma Namba Judgment, ¶ 747.
327 See Huduma Namba Judgment, ¶¶ 843–846 (comparing the Kenyan data protection framework to established
international principles contained in the OECD Privacy Principles and the African Union Convention on Cyber
Security and Personal Data Protection).
328 European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Draft report on the implementation of
international human rights treaties in domestic law and the role of courts,
https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2014)046-e
77
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