The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has confirmed it will work to ensure Government actions are compliant with human rights during this challenging time. A particular focus will be on respect for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Government has announced measures which aim to protect individuals’ right to life (Article 2 ECHR) but emergency legislation and other Government actions may interfere with human rights, for example the right to liberty (Article 5 ECHR) and the right to respect for family life (Article 8 ECHR). As Government actions must be proportionate, it’s important that the Joint Committee understands the impact of these measures. Therefore, the Joint Committee wants to hear your views on:
What steps need to be taken to ensure that measures taken by the Government to address the COVID-19 pandemic are human rights compliant?
What will the impact of specific measures taken by Government to address the COVID-19 pandemic be on human rights in the UK?
Which groups will be disproportionately affected by measures taken by the Government to address the COVID-19 pandemic?
You can send submissions of no more than 1,500 words through the written submission form. The Joint Committee states that ‘as the situation is evolving’ it wishes to respond to issues as they arise, so there is no specific deadline but ‘just as soon as possible’.
