No Rights Violation in Faith-Based School Enrolment – Justice Amaleboba
Supreme Court nominee, Justice Hafisata Amaleboba, has clarified that students who choose to attend faith-based schools do so voluntarily and, in doing so, accept the institution’s code of conduct — a choice that should not be interpreted as a breach of their constitutional rights.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Wednesday, 18th June 2025, Justice Amaleboba addressed concerns about the intersection of religious freedoms and institutional rules in public faith-based schools.
She maintained that while rights are fundamental, they are not without limits. “Rights are not absolute. Every right has its limitation, including being limited by the rights of others and the public interest,” she told the Committee.
Responding specifically to issues involving faith-based schools such as Catholic institutions, she said students who enrol in these schools are often aware of the religious expectations and should therefore not claim compulsion after making a voluntary decision.
“If you are in a Catholic school, having chosen a Catholic school, knowing it is a Catholic school and the code of conduct requires that you do certain things, and you were informed prior to it and you still chose to attend, then to me it will mean that is not compulsion,” she explained.
Justice Amaleboba added that such decisions are rooted in personal consent, and as such, should not be viewed as coercive or unconstitutional.
“It is not a compulsion, it is a voluntary act,” she reiterated. “Before you came to the school you were told that this is a Catholic school, we’ll expect you to go to church on Sundays, we’ll expect you to do this — and you took that voluntary decision to attend the school. And so I do not see that it is compulsion.”
Her comments reaffirm a broader legal view that constitutional freedoms can coexist with institutional identities where informed consent is present. The issue has been at the centre of past debates in Ghana, particularly when students sought exemption from religious practices in mission schools.
Credit: myjoyonline.com
