The Court of Appeal in Jamaica ruled on Monday that Kensington Primary School in St. Catherine violated the constitutional rights of a female student who was denied access in 2018 due to her dreadlocks.
Outgoing president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Patrick Brooks, stated, “It is declared that the policy of the board of management of Kensington Primary on the wearing of dreadlocks hairstyle has breached the following rights as they related to ZV rights.”
Justice Brooks highlighted that the child’s right to freedom of expression and the right to equitable treatment by a public authority was infringed upon.
This landmark ruling partially overturned a 2020 Supreme Court decision, which had originally found that the school’s policy did not violate the child’s constitutional rights.
Kensington Primary School had defended its stance by arguing that the hairstyle could harbor lice and mold. The school threatened to withdraw the child’s admission if the then five-year-old’s hairstyle was not altered.
However, the student’s parents, Dale and Sherine Virgo, refused to cut their daughter’s hair and instead filed a lawsuit against the school’s board, the education ministry, and the attorney general, claiming that their daughter’s constitutional rights were violated.
But in the 2020 Supreme Court ruling, justices Sonia Bertram-Linton, Evan Brown, and Nicole Simmons ruled that Kensington Primary School did not breach the child’s constitutional rights when it denied her access.
The claimants then sought multiple court orders, including a declaration that the school’s grooming policy excluding dreadlocks was unconstitutional and violated the child’s rights to freedom of expression, equality before the law, and freedom from discrimination based on race, social class, color, religion, or political opinions.
In their ruling on Monday, the Court of Appeal judges clarified that the case was centered on self-expression rather than religious rights and freedoms.
A win for Afro-Jamaicans and Rastafarians
Attorney-at-law Isat Buchanan, who represented the Virgos in the lower court and served as instructing counsel in the appeal, celebrated the ruling as a victory for Jamaica. Buchanan emphasized that the court “got it right.”
“I am very pleased with the outcome of the recognition of human rights in particular freedom of expression and equitable treatment as it relates to dreadlocks, Rasta, and Afro identity in modern Jamaica,” Buchanan said.
Highlighting the ruling’s significance, he added, “It is a recognition that people with Afro identity and minority groups are afforded human rights in the Jamaican space.”
Buchanan praised the decision as a milestone for the Charter of Human Rights jurisprudence and a landmark ruling that will prompt other entities, both private and government, to respect individuals’ freedom of expression.
“As a member of the Rastafarian community and the son of Big Youth, I can now say it is a happy day for Jamaicans, especially before Independence not long from now,” Buchanan remarked.
