The Fight for the Rule of Law in Haiti Is the Fight for a Just Society

 Published on November 9, 2021

By Johnny Celestin New York City, and Regine Theodat, Croix des Bouquets,

https://internationallawsection.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IL-2021-Fall-Final.pdf

We want to thank ILQ for putting a lens on Haiti.

As Haiti faces the most challenging time since existence as a nation, this publication is timely as it provides different analytical context to Haiti's current challenges. In our piece, Regine and I looked very specifically at the rule of law.

To read the entire article, click https://internationallawsection.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IL-2021-Fall-Final.pdf

Haiti has once again made the international headlines with the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in his residence and another earthquake just weeks apart. The news of President Moise’s death in July 2021 capped four tumultuous years of governance marred by continued corruption, insecurity and social mobilization. President Moise’s term is believed to have ended in February 2021 by a large swath of Haitian civil society, including most respected constitutional law scholars (from the political right and left), human rights organizations, the organized religious community (protestant, catholic and vodouizan) the major universities, all major trade unions – from teachers to transportation – and the Haitian Bar Federation. Even before the legal conclusion of his term, Moise was ruling by decree, a power he used to undermine and dismantle all other state institutions to concentrate power in his office.

the August 14th earthquake has laid bare the absence of the state, its inability to exert any control over its territory, or to fulfill its most basic function to protect the basic human rights of the Haitian population.

On August 14 2021, Haiti also experienced another earthquake that registered on the Richter scale a magnitude 7.2 earthquake. As of the writing of this article, the impact is still being evaluated. So far 1900 people are known to have died in the catastrophe; thousands more are injured and tens of thousands are without shelter and there is considerable material damage. The Haitian government is well-aware that Haiti is positioned on a fault line between huge tectonic plates and susceptible to large earthquakes.  And yet, virtually nothing was done to prepare the population nor for the state to respond to such an emergency – in fact, any emergency. As expected, this second earthquake once again laid bare the absence of the state, its inability to exert any control over its territory, or to fulfill its most basic function to protect the basic human rights of the population.

The rule of law is foundational to the respect of other civil rights such as healthcare, education and security.

Against this backdrop, this article will explore the constant challenges to and undermining of the rule of law in Haiti, which has become both commonplace & customary from the citizenry to the presidency.  The paper’s basic hypothesis is that the rule of law is the bedrock upon which rest all other rights. It is not only the system that protects citizens from being kidnapped and killed, but it is the only tool that can bring President Moise and the thousands of other victims a modicum of justice. The rule of law is foundational to the respect of other civil rights such as healthcare, education and security but it is also there to ensure that businesses are protected and therefore allow economic growth. The rule of law concept has to be normalized in the most basic human interactions. To that end, it must be taught in schools, as civics classes, it has to be reflected in the basic interactions – from respect for traffic laws to the state being legally held responsible for not providing a basic education to every child.       

The absence of the rule of law means citizens cannot get justice but neither will President Moise.

We will first situate the rule of law in Haiti within time and space through a brief historical outline. Next, we will define the concept of the rule of law and how it has been applied, or not, locally. Then we will move to more contemporary times and the current events that culminated in President Moise’s assassination. We will also briefly show how the absence of the rule of law has made the earthquake response and recovery difficult and impractical followed by an analysis of the central role the Moise administration played in continuing to deteriorate the rule of law. Lastly, the paper concludes by revisiting recommendations that were made after the 2010 earthquake in terms of how actors in the legal system, scholars, as well as civil society could reinforce the rule of law as an ipso facto step to the country’s development.