In an opinion published on Monday 30 November, the Council of Europe’s Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) uses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as a basis for analysing the role of public prosecutors in emergency situations.
The restrictions imposed in the context of this health emergency have “strongly affected” the ability of prosecutors to carry out their functions and duties, including, where applicable, the enforcement of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). There is every reason to believe that this will continue to be the case in the aftermath of the pandemic, posing long-term risks to the civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural rights protected by the ECHR. This would result in discrimination against certain vulnerable groups, such as healthcare workers or minorities, as well as the rise in hate speech, racism, xenophobia, aggression, forced returns of foreigners or migrants, not to mention the upsurge in violence against women and children.
It is the role of prosecutors to ensure that measures adopted under emergency law are used to protect individuals and not as a pretext to justify human rights violations, says the CCPE, which, on the basis of this requirement, calls for “a uniform approach to emergency situations in European countries”.
This framework should guarantee the integrity, independence and impartiality of the judicial system, including access to justice and an effective remedy for the protection of human rights in emergency situations.
See the CCPE opinion: https://bit.ly/39rmWDN (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)