The application of the derogatory clause of the European Convention on Human Rights on the occasion of the sanitary crisis arising from COVID 19

Abstract

The sanitary crisis caused by COVID-19 has meant that, in a period of only fifteen days, ten States parties to the ECHR have notified, during the first wave of the pandemic, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe of their decision to temporarily derogate from certain obligations of the Convention in order to be able to adopt restrictive measures of rights to contain the transmission of the virus among the population. However, the rest of the States, which have also been affected by the pandemic, have not considered it necessary to resort to the derogation clause considering that the restrictive measures adopted were compatible with the Convention. The objective of this study is to analyze the application of the derogatory clause of Article 15 of the Convention as a result of the sanitary emergency and assess its opportunity from the perspective of the human rights protection system established by the Convention, considering if perhaps it would have been preferable not to apply it.