“All measures taken by European Union Member States to deal with Covid-19 have had an impact to a greater or lesser extent on democracy, the Rule of law and human rights”, warns the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in an interim report published in the framework of its current plenary session.
Dedicated to “measures taken in the Member States of the European Union as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and their impact on democracy, the Rule of law and fundamental rights”, this report follows up on the proposal to solicit the Venice Commission, made last June by the LIBE Committee (Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) of the European Parliament, validated by the Conference of Presidents and transmitted by President Sassoli on 20 July 2020 (https://bit.ly/3dbKfRI ).
Last Spring’s health crisis “generated a set of emergency measures never before seen in the modern history of Europe and the world”, it said. Fourteen Member States have declared a state of emergency (under their constitutions or under ordinary laws), 14 (the UK is included in the study) have not done so de jure, but emergency measures have been decided upon everywhere. In most Member States, their duration and renewal have been defined, but not in Hungary and Croatia, which is denounced by the Venice Commission.
No less important than the temporality, the criterion of proportionality is crucial for emergency measures if democracy, human rights and the Rule of law are to be preserved. For example, a postponement of an election must be weighed against the risks it would pose to free and universal suffrage.
Parliamentary control remains essential in the event of a crisis, stresses the Venice Commission, which notes, however, that parliaments have often been relegated to a secondary role or even suspended altogether, as in Cyprus or the Czech Republic. The parliament must remain the centre of political life and the health crisis cannot be used as an excuse for governments to emancipate themselves from it, warns the Venice Commission.
It also insists on recourse to the judicial system, which is essential to preserve for citizens affected by emergency measures, whether at national or supranational level, with the European Convention on Human Rights among the essential benchmarks. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)