On the 24th day of January, 2022, the Uganda Law Reform Commission notified the general public that it had transcribed the 1995 Constitution into braille and copies of the same were now available to the public. The Uganda Law Reform Commission is a Constitutional body created under Article 248 of the Constitution and the Law Reform Commission Act, Cap 25. The mandate of the Commission is to reform, update, translate, disseminate the laws of Uganda.
The publication of a braille version of the Constitution although long overdue, must be commended and celebrated. It is a step in the right direction towards aiding access to justice and education for the visually impaired.
Statistics reveal that globally, there are over 300 million people with visual impairment and 90% of these are in developing countries. Specifically, in Uganda, it is reported that over 1.5 million people are visually impaired. According to World Blind Union, less than 10% of all published materials are accessible to blind or low vision people across the globe. The percentage should be much less for Uganda.
Visually impaired persons require specialized support and visual aids to enable them read and write. Braille is a system of touch reading and writing for blind people in which raised dots represent the letters of the alphabet.
The creation of the braille version of the Constitution is not something discretionary for Uganda. It is rather an obligation that is imposed both directly and indirectly at an International and national level.
At the international level, Uganda is a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), all of which recognise numerous human rights which form part of the bundle of human rights enshrined in Uganda’s Constitution under Chapter 4 and several other provisions.
Under the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, the State has a duty to fulfill the fundamental rights of all Ugandans including ensuring that Ugandans enjoy rights, opportunities and access to education.
The State is further enjoined to recognize the rights of persons with disabilities.
Under Article 4 of the Constitution, the State also has a duty to promote public awareness of the Constitution and disseminating it as widely as possible. Relatedly, the Constitution provides for the right to education, the rights of minorities and for the right to equal treatment and against discrimination.
Conversely, under National Objective XXIV(g), all citizens have a duty to acquaint themselves with the provisions of the Constitution and to uphold and defend the Constitution and the Law.
These provisions read together are supposed to promote the rights of all including those of the visually impaired to access justice and education. However, their implementation has always been a challenge. The newly published braille version of the Constitution will therefore go a long way.
I note though that it is not enough for just the braille version of the Constitution to be published. All other laws and statutory instruments should be transcribed into braille and/or audio versions. There is need for deliberate steps and policies by government to support access to justice and the right to education for persons with disabilities through literature.
Relatedly, and specifically from an Intellectual property rights perspective, Uganda is a signatory to the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. The said Treaty enjoins contracting parties to ensure that their national copyright laws provide an exception to infringement where access is by a format accessible to persons with visual impairment and for noncommercial use. The Treaty was made upon the recognition of the principles of equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and the need to balance the private rights and public interest for access to information, and education.
The Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act of Uganda under Section 15 creates the defence of fair use as an exception to infringement where a braille version of the work is created for education purposes and for noncommercial use.
Although laws of a country are not the subject of copyright protection other private literary works related to the interpretation, analysis of the said laws maybe the subject of copyright protection. The Marrakesh Treaty and Section 15 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act are therefore important in helping to reinforce the rights of visually impaired persons to access other literary works without being afraid of infringement.
In conclusion therefore, although the Government must be commended for the work so far done, there is a lot more that needs to be done. It is therefore important that government does not merely stop at the braille version of the Constitution but also works together with private copyright owners to promote the creation of relevant educational material available in braille or audio version to empower those with disabilities and increase their access to education and justice.