FRANCIS KWARTENG ARTHUR VS THE NATIONAL INDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY & ANOR
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HER LADYSHIP, JUSTICE GIFTY AGYEI ADDO
Areas of Law
- Constitutional Law
- Administrative Law
- Civil Procedure
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involves an application filed by a member of the Ghana Bar Association against the National Identification Authority (NIA) for alleged violation of his rights to administrative justice and non-discrimination. The Applicant claimed he was denied registration for a National Identification Card due to his inability to provide a digital address code. The Court dismissed all of the Applicant's reliefs, finding no evidence of discrimination or rights violation. The Court ruled that the NIA acted within its statutory powers in requiring a digital address code for registration. The case highlights important principles regarding the jurisdiction of the High Court in human rights matters, the burden of proof in discrimination cases, the requirements for granting an order of mandamus, and the personal nature of rights enforcement under Article 33 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
On the 19th of February, 2019, the Applicant, per his amended originating motion prayed the following reliefs against the Respondent: a. A declaration that my right to administrative justice and to equality or non-discrimination have been, are being or are likely to be violated by the Respondent.
b. An order of; i. Prohibition restraining the Respondent from further interfering with or violating the above-mentioned rights to which I am by law entitled; and ii.
Mandamus compelling the Respondent, its officers, agents, assigns or privies whatsoever or howsoever described or called to register and issue me with a Card, my failure to provide the so-called “digital address code”notwithstanding; and c. Provide any other remedies that the honorable Court may deem fit for the greater good of the Ghanaian society as a whole.
THE CASE OF THE APPLICANT.
The application is brought pursuant to Article 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992 and Order 67 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004 (C. I 47). A summation of the case of the Applicant is as follows: According to the Applicant, on or July, 2018, the Respondent announced through the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) that it had commenced the registration process for the issuance of a National Identification Card for members of the GBA in Accra.
The Applicant states that being a member of the GBA, he submitted himself to the registration process.
The Applicant states further that at the registration workstation at the premises of the GBA in Accra, the officials of the Respondent required of him his digital address code.
That unable to provide the said digital address code, the Respondent’s officials refused his application for the Card.
The Applicant continues that attempts to have his particulars entered into the register of the Respondent and to procure a National Identification Card has proved futile, owing to his inability to provide the Respondent with his digital address code.
It is the Applicant’s case that the digital address code is entirely unknown to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and further that the subjecting of his right to obtain a Card to his production of a digital address code is illegal, unreasonable and discriminatory.
The Applicant concludes that his rights to administrative justice and equality or non-discrimination have been or are likely to be infringed upon by the Respondent.
THE CASE OF THE RESPONDENT.
Per its affidavit in response to the application filed