Expanding the Bill of Rights
A constitution’s Bill of Rights identifies those basic rights which each citizen must enjoy. The existing Bill of Rights should be expanded to ensure that each citizen is guaranteed those human rights which would allow one to attain a decent standard of living, given that the existing Bill is somewhat limited. There are several international examples upon which this expanded Bill could be modelled. For instance in the Constitution of Bolivia, water is enshrined as a human right, guaranteeing each citizen of that country access to a supply of water – which we would all agree is indeed a basic human right. Additionally, the Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution includes one of the widest listing of basic human rights – equal protection of all citizens is provided for, regardless of race, gender, religion, political opinion or sexual orientation. A Trinidad and Tobago Bill of Rights patterned after the South African example would therefore guarantee our citizens a wide set of basic human rights.