Human Rights and Covid-19 (Corona Virus) in Kenya: Is the Law Silent?

Abstract

Michael Paulsen in his ‘the Constitution of necessity’1 argued that we ought to interpret/ construe the constitution in a manner that would avoid a "constitutional implosion." By this, he meant that the law of self-preservation (the duty of the president/executive to prioritize the preservation of the nation at the expense of a constitutional provision) must always take precedence even if it meant suspending the constitution. Further, that every constitution must contain a self-preservation exemption i.e. a rule of necessity which will allow a violation of the rights. To him, a constitution that lacks such a provision, he calls it a ‘suicide pact’. Saikrishna Prakash in his ‘The Constitution as Suicide Pact’ summarizes Paulsen’s argument by asking a question