By Muriël Poepon, external PhD student of the University of Groningen, email address: poepon.m gmail.com

This blog briefly summarises the results of the PhD research that has been conducted on Surinamese health law. The aim of this study is to provide insight into the role of the government through legislation. In doing so, it examines whether the government has adequate administrative law and criminal law instruments in place to protect the health of citizens and to guarantee the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of healthcare.

Health Legislation

The Surinamese health legislation has been discussed through measuring it against the norms of internationally guaranteed rights to health, such as the following criteria: the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of the healthcare; the legal obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil the minimum core responsibilities of non-discriminatory access to all health facilities which member states owe to their citizens; access to minimum food safety, housing and clean, safe drinking water; lastly, the administrative law requirements such as those relating to legal protection and enforcement. The study revealed that through legislation the government does not always have adequate administrative and criminal law instruments at its disposal to protect the health of citizens; there are numerous flaws.

The study shows there is legislation on the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health care which also pays attention to prevention. In addition, there is legislation relating to freedoms regarding medical research for scientific purposes, legislation regulating government supervision of public health, as well as legislation regarding the title of Director of Public Health. Furthermore, there is legislation that pays attention to the specific conditions for health. However, the quality of the aforementioned legislation is inefficient.

Review

The study shows Surinamese health regulations meet at least one of the international standards for the right to health, but this is not enough for effective implementation of these laws. The study proves the existing health laws do not meet all quality requirements and, by consequence, their operation is inadequate in practice. Moreover, the non-existence of implementing decrees for some health laws constitutes a further obstacle for the operation of these laws. This inevitably impacts on the citizens who attempt to make use of the health services in Suriname.

Inadequate Administrative and Criminal Law Instruments

The flaws of the available criminal law instruments are revealed at the implementation process. Of the existing legislation, criminal law grants investigative powers to two groups of civil servants: the investigating officers, as referred to in Article 134 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and other civil servants. The study reveals that the investigating officers hardly exercise their investigative powers, if at all. Furthermore, the other group of officials cannot always exercise their investigative powers due to a requirement of having to first be sworn in as extraordinary policemen, which is not always the case.

The administrative law instruments also show flaws that emerge at the implementation stage. Some laws assign supervisory authority to an administrative authority, but a description of that power is lacking. Other laws show the minimal systematic organisation of administrative enforcement powers; for example, there is no regulation for the announcement to the offender of their respective sanction by any administrative authority. Another missing arrangement is that concerning the questioning of the offender by the competent administrative authority.

Incomplete Legal Protection

Some health laws have no regulation regarding legal protection for citizens from decisions or actions of the government; this means the government cannot be held responsible for their actions. Other health laws do include regulations on legal protection, but they are incomplete. The end point in these laws is to object or to lodge an appeal.

How Further

The study shows that health laws are difficult to implement in practice. Thus, it is necessary for the government to prepare implementing decrees and to advance the swearing of extraordinary policemen. Furthermore, it is necessary to include a regulation on legal protection in the health laws that have not yet regulated this. For laws in which there is incomplete legal protection, the introduction of a complete system of legal protection is important. The system should contain a regulation on making an objection and a two-tier legal system. This will provide adequate legal protection for the citizens.

In order to eliminate the ambiguities about and the inconsistencies in the administrative instruments in the existing health legislation, a systematic arrangement of administrative law enforcement powers in an Administrative Law Enforcement Act is necessary.