18 October 2024
Non-Retrogression as Progress
Latin America has often led the way in protecting the right to health, particularly in regulating risk factors such as tobacco and unhealthy diets. However, some of these advancements have recently been jeopardized as governments prioritize private economic interests over health. Judicialization has thus emerged as an opportunity – perhaps the only one – to defend progress achieved. Given recent judicial rulings in Uruguay and Ecuador, we reflect on the fragility of legal interventions that threaten powerful economic interests, as well as on the opportunities offered by human rights-based litigation. Continue reading >>
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22 March 2022
A Climate Warrior for the Global South
This review of climate cases in the Global South reflects the potential of the right to a healthy environment in climate justice. Countries in the Latin American region are already leading the fight against climate change through successful judicial battles, relying on the established right to a healthy environment. Continue reading >>
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28 April 2021
Migrant Workers’ Safety Concerns Should be a Pandemic Priority
In the second year of the pandemic, migrant workers continue to work under precarious conditions, exacerbated by the additional risks associated with Covid-19. Social security assistance in Germany, including health care provisions, requires a minimum of 70 working days before employers are required to contribute. During last year’s agricultural season, the German government raised this minimum to 115 days. This made healthcare the responsibility of one’s country of citizenship, not of one’s employer. This year, in April 2021, the German farming industry has successfully pressured the government to re-extend this provision to 102 days. Continue reading >>
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07 April 2021
The Italian “No Jab, No Job” Law
While the world tackles the thorny issues of vaccine passports and “no jab, no job” policies, on April 1st 2021 Italy became (to the best of my knowledge) the first country to enact a law specifically prescribing COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers, with non-compliance entailing removal from healthcare activities or, when this is not possible, suspension from work and wage. This may appear as an infringement of the constitutionally protected right to health as a matter of self-determination. But in fact, given the case-law of the Italian Constitutional Court, the newly enacted obligation seems to meet the requirements of the Italian Constitution. Continue reading >>
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07 July 2020
To Vote or Not to Vote?
The COVID-19 pandemic poses considerable challenges to democracies across the world. This is particularly apparent with regard to the holding of elections which states have approached in various ways. States face the following tension: On the one hand, the obligation to protect the rights to health and life requires states to limit the spread of the pandemic by reducing human-to-human contact. At the same time, these measures encroach upon the right to political participation. Against that background, an intricate balancing of the various interests in light of international human rights law seems necessary. Continue reading >>
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01 July 2020
Children in Lockdown
Medically (while more scientific studies are necessary), COVID-19 largely seems to have little impact on children. However, children have been deeply affected by the lockdowns implemented to protect everyone else’s vulnerability. There is one issue which has so far received scant attention in the Covid-19 English-language constitutional law analysis, namely that of the ramifications of domestic lockdowns for children’s constitutional protections. Using Norway as a case study, we identify a set of issues and propose how a critique could have been articulated. Continue reading >>
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