Derogations of Article 8 of the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms during a state of emergency

Abstract

The right to privacy is one of the fundamental human rights, as it encompasses a wide range of relationships related to the private life of the individual. Starting with the right to family life and the right to private life, many institutions that seem very important nowadays, such as data protection, find their place and are part of the right to privacy. Nevertheless, the right to privacy is one of the relative rights protected by the European Convention, which means that it can be derogated in specific cases and under certain conditions. The purpose of this article is to examine the conditions set out in the European Convention for the derogation of right to privacy and to analyse the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. This Court has, in its jurisprudence, restrictively derogated the right to privacy, with fulfilling three conditions: prescription by law, necessary in a democratic society and achieving certain legitimate aim. One of the examples of the possibility of its restriction is the epidemic of the Covid-19 virus. Considering that numerous countries around the world have restricted the right to privacy, the question is whether and to what extent the restriction was in accordance with prescribed conditions for derogation of this right.

Keywords

• article 8 of the echr
• covid-19
• derogation
• state of emergency