Chapter 5: Social Justice.Chapter 5 of the Fiji Constitution is titled Social Justice. It is one of the shortest chapters of the constitution, comprising only one section - section 44.
The 1997 Constitution of Fiji was the supreme law of Fiji from its adoption in 1997 until 2009 when President Josefa Iloilo purported to abrogate it. It was also suspended for a period following the 2000 coup d'état led by George Speight.
Section 44, the sole section of Chapter 5, charges Parliament with the responsibility to make provision for "effective equality of access" to education and training, land and housing, and participation in commerce and in public service, for groups that are seen to be disadvantaged. Despite otherwise implicitly affirming the essentially capitalist nature of Fiji, the Constitution recognizes that there are certain sectors of the population who have not shared fairly in Fiji's economic, social, and political development, and that the state has a responsibility to create an environment of equal opportunity. Unlike socialistic constitutions, the Fiji Constitution does not seek equality of results, but equality of opportunity is presupposed as a basic human right.
The Parliament of Fiji is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Fiji. It consists of 51 members elected every 4 years using open-list proportional representation in one multi-member nationwide constituency.
Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which job applicants are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. According to this often complex and contested concept, the intent is that the important jobs in an organization should go to the people who are most qualified – persons most likely to perform ably in a given task – and not go to persons for reasons deemed arbitrary or irrelevant, such as circumstances of birth, upbringing, having well-connected relatives or friends, religion, sex, ethnicity, race, caste, or involuntary personal attributes such as disability, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Equality of outcome, equality of condition, or equality of results is a political concept which is central to some political ideologies and is used regularly in political discourse, often in contrast to the term equality of opportunity. It describes a state in which people have approximately the same material wealth and income, or in which the general economic conditions of their lives are alike. Achieving equal results generally entails reducing or eliminating material inequalities between individuals or households in a society and usually involves a transfer of income or wealth from wealthier to poorer individuals, or adopting other measures to promote equality of condition. A related way of defining equality of outcome is to think of it as "equality in the central and valuable things in life". One account in the Journal of Political Philosophy suggested that the term meant "equalising where people end up rather than where or how they begin", but described this sense of the term as "simplistic" since it failed to identify what was supposed to be made equal.
Ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians are both intended to benefit from this provision. The multiracial capital, Suva, has excellent educational services, but more rural areas, populated mostly by ethnic Fijians, are often poorly served. Indo-Fijians predominate in commerce and the professions, while the public service and the Armed Forces are overwhelmingly ethnic Fijian. This constitutional provision is meant to redress the reasons for these imbalances by authorizing appropriate legislation. There is a caveat, however: "A program established under this section must not, directly or indirectly, deprive any person not entitled to its benefits of: (a) any position or seniority in the service of the State: (b) any place in an educational or training institution; (c) a scholarship or other financial support; or (d) a right to carry on any business or profession or to enjoy any other opportunity, amenity or service; to which that person has already become, and would otherwise remain, entitled." In other words, the giving of special help to disadvantaged groups must not discriminate against a member of another group.
Fijians are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture.
Suva is the capital and largest metropolitan city in Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Rewa Province, Central Division.
An affirmative action program may be established for a maximum of ten years. It is to be reviewed annually, to assess whether or not its goals are being met, and if so, whether the program is still needed. On expiry at the end of ten year (or earlier, if it was set to run for a shorter period), it may be renewed by appropriate legislation if the need for it is perceived still to exist.
Chapter 5 recognizes that not all cases of proportional underrepresentation are necessarily the result of disadvantage. In some cases, the preferences of certain communities may be a factor; religious or cultural objections to certain forms of work may in some cases explain the underrepresentation of a particular community in a particular category of employment. In formulating affirmative action legislation, such factors are to be taken into account.
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Affirmative action, also known as reservation in India and Nepal, positive discrimination in the United Kingdom, and employment equity in Canada and South Africa, is the policy of promoting the education and employment of members of groups that are known to have previously suffered from discrimination. Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve goals such as bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, promoting diversity, and redressing apparent past wrongs, harms, or hindrances.
Reverse discrimination is discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Groups may be defined in terms of disability, ethnicity, family status, gender identity, nationality, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation, or other factors.
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 in the South African general election, 1994. It was promulgated by President Nelson Mandela on 18 December 1996 and came into effect on 4 February 1997, replacing the Interim Constitution of 1993.
The House of Representatives was the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament from 1970 to 2006. It was the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone had the power to initiate legislation. The House of Representatives also had much greater jurisdiction over financial bills; the Senate could not amend them, although it might veto them. Except in the case of amendments to the Constitution, over which a veto of the Senate was absolute, the House of Representatives might override a Senatorial veto by passing the same bill a second time, in the parliamentary session immediately following the one in which it was rejected by the Senate, after a minimum period of six months.
Chapter 1: The State. The first chapter of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji is titled The State. It is divided into five sections, which summarize briefly how the nation of Fiji sees itself.
Chapter 2: Compact. The second chapter of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji contains Sections 6 and 7 of the Constitution. They summarize, in "compact" form, the intent and purpose of the Constitution, as well as the goals that it seeks to accomplish. It establishes the principles on which the Fiji government are to be based, and according to which the Constitution is to be interpreted.
Chapter 3: Citizenship. The third chapter of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji, comprising Sections 8 through 20 of the Constitution, set out the rules for citizenship in Fiji.
Chapter 4: Bill of Rights.Chapter 4 of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji is titled Bill of Rights. It is one of the longest chapters of the Constitution, comprising a total of twenty-three sections.
Chapter 6: The Parliament.Chapter 6 of the Fiji Constitution is titled The Parliament. The five Parts, further subdivided into forty sections making up this chapter, set out the composition, functions, and powers of Fiji's bicameral legislature.
Chapter 7: Executive Government.Chapter 7 of the 1997 Constitution is titled Executive Government. There are five Parts, further subdivided into thirty sections, which set out the organization, functions, and responsibilities of the executive branch of government. Modeled on the Westminster system, Fiji's constitution does not separate the Executive and Legislative branches of government as strictly as do many democracies, but despite considerable overlap, the branches of government are nevertheless constitutionally distinct.
Chapter 9: Judiciary.Chapter 9 of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji is titled Judiciary. It is divided into twenty-two sections, setting out the composition and functions of the Judicial branch of the Fijian government.
Chapter 10: State Services.Chapter 10 of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji is titled State Services. Its fifteen sections establish certain civil service offices, specify their functions and jurisdictions, set out the qualifications and preconditions required of persons holding such offices, and prescribes the manner of their appointment.
Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms contains guaranteed equality rights. As part of the Constitution, the section prohibits certain forms of discrimination perpetrated by the governments of Canada with the exception of ameliorative programs and rights or privileges guaranteed by or under the Constitution of Canada in respect of denominational, separate or dissentient schools.
The Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties are sections of the Constitution of India that prescribe the fundamental obligations of the states to its citizens and the duties and the rights of the citizens to the State. These sections comprise a constitutional bill of rights for government policy-making and the behaviour and conduct of citizens. These sections are considered vital elements of the constitution, which was developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.
Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa contains the Bill of Rights, a human rights charter that protects the civil, political and socio-economic rights of all people in South Africa. The rights in the Bill apply to all law, including the common law, and bind all branches of the government, including the national executive, Parliament, the judiciary, provincial governments and municipal councils. Some provisions, such as those prohibiting unfair discrimination, also apply to the actions of private persons.
The system of reservation in India consists of a series of measures, such as reserving access to seats in the various legislatures, to government jobs, and to enrollment in higher educational institutions. The reservation nourishes the historically disadvantaged castes and tribes, listed as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes by the Government of India, also those designated as Other Backwards Classes (OBCs) and also the economically backward general. The reservation is undertaken to address the historic oppression, inequality, and discrimination faced by those communities and to give these communities a place. It is intended to realise the promise of equality enshrined in the Constitution.
Constitution of India doesn't define the word 'Minority' but has used the word minorities considering two attributes religion or language of a person. For minorities Constitution of India has envisaged a number of rights and safeguards. To provide enough equality and to dwindle the discrimination, makers have spelt out various things in Fundamental Rights (PartIII); Directive Principles of State policy and also the Fundamental Duties. However, with rising right and rising wedge between right and left and also the ephemeral political aspirations of various political parties have diluted the discrimination safeguards.
Employment equity, as defined in federal Canadian law by the Employment Equity Act, requires federal jurisdiction employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities. The act states that "employment equity means more than treating persons the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences".
National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Others, [1999] ZACC 17, is a 1999 decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which extended to same-sex partners the same benefits granted to spouses in the issuing of immigration permits. It was the first Constitutional Court case to deal with the recognition of same-sex partnerships, and also the first case in which a South African court adopted the remedy of "reading in" to correct an unconstitutional law. The case is of particular importance in the areas of civil procedure, immigration, and constitutional law and litigation.
Substantive equality is a fundamental aspect of human rights law that is concerned with equitable outcomes and equal opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized people and groups in society. Scholars define substantive equality as an output or outcome of the policies, procedures, and practices used by nation states and private actors in addressing and preventing systematic discrimination. Substantive equality recognizes that the law must take elements such as discrimination, marginalization, and unequal distribution into account in order to achieve equal results for basic human rights, opportunities, and access to goods and services. Substantive equality is primarily achieved by implementing special measures in order to assist or advance the lives of disadvantaged individuals. Such measures are aimed at ensuring that they are given the same opportunities as everyone else.
