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Coronavirus derogations from human rights send wrong signal, say MEPs

"At least six European countries have announced plans to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights, (ECHR), invoking the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Critics, however, fear that this sends the wrong political signal."
Date
25 March 2020
Institution
Council of Europe European Union (EU)
"At least six European countries have announced plans to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights, (ECHR), invoking the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Critics, however, fear that this sends the wrong political signal."

Coronavirus derogations from human rights send wrong signal, say MEPs (Euractiv, link):

“Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova and Romania have notified the Council of Europe (CoE) of their intention to derogate from the human rights treaty under Article 15, which allows signatories to derogate from the convention in times of a “public emergency threatening the life of the nation.”

In the meantime, the press in Sofia announced that Bulgaria has also asked for a similar derogation.”

And see: (Rule of) Law in the Time of Covid-19: Warnings from Slovenia (Verfassungsblog, link):

“In spite of the gravity of the situation, however, any measures adopted to combat it must be adopted by competent bodies, following the procedure and under the conditions envisaged by law. In other words, rule of law concerns have to be fully respected. It is my concern that Slovenia has been failing this “rule of law in times of emergency” test.”