General report. Governmental policies to fight pandemic : the boundaries of legitimate limitations on fundamental freedoms

This General Report highlights some discernible trends in the legal reaction to public health emergency caused by Covid-19. Emergencies, as the Covid-19 pandemic, put rights and freedoms systems under stress: the core of this Report, therefore, is to analyze – from a comparative perspective – the impact of the anti-pandemic measures on rights and freedoms. After a general introduction about the main features of the 2020-2022 emergency, the analysis is divided into three main parts: first, the Report identifies several trends embraced by different countries as regards the resort to international and supranational derogation clauses as well as to domestic emergency frameworks to tackle the pandemic. Second, the Report analyzes the effect of anti-Covid-19 policies on most affected rights and freedoms (e.g. freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, religious freedom, economic freedoms but also political rights, communication and information rights and the protection of vulnerable groups). In carrying out this analysis, the Report takes into consideration relevant case law, especially be supreme and constitutional courts. Third, the Author highlights some common dynamics in the management of Covid-19 public health crisis (e.g. the marginalization of Parliaments and the outreach of Executives, the impossibility for courts to review emergency measures, the new role of science and technology in decision-making), assessed thanks to the precise analysis of individual national reports. Lastly, the concluding remarks draw some guidelines in order to improve the response to potential forthcoming emergencies.