Matondo Mukulu - Gleaner file photo
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Matondo Mukulu, Public Law Barrister in the UK and a former Public Defender in Jamaica
Public Law Barrister in the UK, Matondo Mukulu, has given strong commentary on the Supreme Court judgment over the Kensington Primary School dreadlock issue.
Mr. Mukulu, who is a former Public Defender in Jamaica, has described the ruling as unfortunate and suggested that an appeal is necessary because of many unanswered questions.
The Kensington Primary judgment has been widely discussed since the ruling was published this week.
According to Mr. Mukulu, the judgment was limited in scope as there was not enough focus on cases which deal with the Charter of Rights. He described the ruling as "a sad piece of illiberal judicial vandalism."
"When one reads the decision, it really takes us back to a period when we didn't have the amendment to the constitution, which is now the Charter of Rights."
Where the issue of the right to education is concerned, the court ruled that that right was not engaged. However, Mr. Mukulu argued that the only reason the child was still attending the school is because "there was an injunction compelling them to do so, not because the policy had been suddenly evaporated."
Mr. Mukulu, who was speaking Tuesday on Beyond The Headlines, argued that "aspects of the decision attack other previously held views, for example, it attacks the issue of how you go about justifying breach of rights."
He said the Kensington Primary case highlights administrative issues in government which should be addressed.
"What this judgment tells us is that we certainly need an institutional guardian for our constitution because the claimants were left on their own to sort of assist thousands of other Jamaicans. When Mr. Seaga thought about the Office of the Public Defender, these are the kinds of cases that he seemed to have been thinking of," he said.
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