Human rights in states of emergency in international law

1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (04) ◽  
pp. 30-2349-30-2349
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
States Of Emergency

scholarly journals Zagrożenie życia narodu jako przesłanka wstępna derogacji zobowiązań w dziedzinie praw człowieka

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-41
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Jasudowicz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
States Of Emergency ◽  
Treaty Monitoring ◽  
Public Emergency ◽  
Civil And Political Rights

To determine the fate of human rights in extreme situations, the treaties contain a mechanism for derogating from obligations, i.e. derogations from their enforceability in such exceptional situations. The initial and fundamental criterion under which derogation steps are admissible is the existence of an exceptional public emergency that threatens the life of the nation, as referred to in Article 4(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 15(1) of the European Charter of Human Rights, and about which Professor Anna Michalska wrote so competently in 1997. Neither the constitutions of modern states nor their practice of introducing states of emergency are helpful in defining this criterion more precisely; most often, they do not use it at all. Unfortunately, it is not to be found in Chapter XI of the Polish Constitution “States of Emergency”, nor in the laws of 2002 regulating these states. In the practice of the treaty monitoring bodies (Human Rights Committee in the ICCPR system; the European Commission and the Court of Human Rights in the ECHR system), we do not find incontestable nor indisputable indications. The concept of the “nation” is referred to society as a whole and is to be associated with its physical survival. In the author’s opinion, this is not the correct approach, as it is and must be about a “living nation”, a nation effectively exercising its rights. The enslavement of a nation, its subjugation, elimination of opportunities for its self-determination – far from its extermination – can unquestionably meet the requirements of the criterion of a threat to the life of the nation. The study of constitutional law (the nation-sovereign) and international law (the principle and right to self-determination of the nation) unequivocally confirms this thesis.

Rethinking Derogations from Human Rights Treaties

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-40
Author(s):  
Laurence R. Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Editorial Comment ◽  
International Law ◽  
States Of Emergency ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Emergency Measures

AbstractNumerous governments have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by declaring states of emergency and restricting individual liberties protected by international law. However, many more states have adopted emergency measures than have formally derogated from human rights conventions. This Editorial Comment critically evaluates the existing system of human rights treaty derogations. It analyzes the system's problems, identifies recent developments that have exacerbated these problems, and proposes a range of reforms in five areas—embeddedness, engagement, information, timing, and scope.

Queensland Guidelines for Bodies Monitoring Respect for Human Rights During States of Emergency

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 716-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Lillich
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
States Of Emergency ◽  
Human Rights Norms

After six years of study by its Committee on the Enforcement of Human Rights Law, the sixty-fourth Conference of the International Law Association, held in Queensland, Australia, from August 19 to 25, 1990, approved by consensus a set of standards to assist human rights bodies in monitoring states of emergency. These standards, designated the Queensland Guidelines for Bodies Monitoring Respect for Human Rights during States of Emergency, complement on the enforcement side the substantive norms found in the Paris Minimum Standards of Human Rights Norms in a State of Emergency, adopted by the ILA in 1984.

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