scholarly journals Mediating tensions between public health and individual rights

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Toebes
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Health Laws ◽  
Individual Human

Abstract Public health laws and policies are powerful tools. Yet, they are often at tension with individual rights, including physical integrity, and privacy and family life. For example: extensive quarantines to curb the spread of an infectious disease may restrict freedom of movement; the introduction of compulsory vaccination for pre-school entry may create tension with the freedom of conscience or religion of parents who do not wish to have their children vaccinated; and smoke-free zones can create tension with the rights to privacy and family life. Overcoming such tensions is both an ethical and a legal imperative. The primary legal framework in which this settling of tensions takes place is human rights law, which is binding on all countries around the world. Human rights standards reflect individual values that need to be taken into account when introducing public health measures. However, there is still insufficient understanding as to how the various human rights are to be weighed and integrated into public health laws and policies. Many questions remain, including how to balance public health or the collective ‘right to health' with individual rights. This presentation will identify the most important tensions between public health measures and individual human rights. Subsequently, it will offer some solutions on how to better integrate human rights into public health laws and policies. Specific attention will be paid to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The point will be made, that the ‘best interest of the child' norm under this Convention may under circumstances set aside other interests, including parental freedoms. The presentation will conclude with the identification of a so-called ‘Human Rights-Based Approach' (HRBA), an integrated approach that may serve to make public health laws and policies ‘human rights proof'. Key messages There is an inherent tension between measures to protect the health of the public and individual human rights. We need to come to a better understanding of how to resolve these tensions.

Is the assessment under Article 8 ECHR for migrants justifiable?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1023263X2110614
Author(s):  
Jennie Edlund ◽  
Václav Stehlík
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Foreign Nationals ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

The paper analyses the protection granted under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights for different immigration cases. The way the European Court of Human Rights determines compliance with Article 8 for settled migrants differs from the way the Court determines compliance for foreign nationals seeking entry or requesting to regularize their irregular migration status. The paper argues that the European Court of Human Rights application of different principles when determining a States’ positive and negative obligations is contradicting its own case law. It also argues that the absence of justification grounds for the refusal of foreign nationals who are seeking entry lacks legitimacy. By treating all immigration cases under Article 8(2) the paper suggests that the differentiation between cases should be based on how a refusal of entry or an expulsion would impact on the family life. The paper also suggests that more consideration should be given towards the insiders interests when balancing the individual rights against the state's interests. These changes would lead to a more consistent and fair case law and generate a more convergent practice by the states which will increase the precedent value of the Court's judgements.

scholarly journals Who is promoting the stability of the human rights pillar? Lessons from our own experience of dictatorship

European View ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-114
Author(s):  
Günter Nooke
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
World Peace ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Individual Human

According to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, world peace is based on the pillars of security, development and human rights. The defence of human rights is a particular foreign policy strength of both the EU and Germany. Despite advances, human rights are currently under threat from two angles. The first is a tendency to demand so much in the realm of human rights that, in the end, very little is achieved. The second is a growing movement that prioritises the rights of the collective over individual rights. However, it is individual human rights that are paramount and it is possible to extend individual rights without trampling cultural diversity. Given Europe's history of freeing itself from the shackles of dictatorship, its role in the defence of human rights is invaluable.

THE COLLECTIVE RIGHTS IN THE CONDITIONS OF LIBERAL MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND THEIR LEGAL NATURE

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-95
Author(s):  
Борис Молчанов ◽  
Boris Molchanov ◽  
Григорий Стародубцев ◽  
Grigoriy Starodubtsyev ◽  
Жанна Иванова ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
International Law ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Collective Rights ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Individual Human

In article individual human rights on cultural identity, political representation or on participation in the collective or group rights in the sphere of human rights in the liberal states are analyzed. Especially international law gives the collective rights for physical existence, protection against economic and cultural destruction and originality preservation ethnic, religious and language minorities. In detail also the legislation of a number of the states on a combination of the collective and individual rights of the small people for protection of their primordial habitat, a traditional way of life, customs, managing and crafts is in details analysed.

What Gets Measured, Gets Changed: Evaluating Law and Policy for Maximum Impact

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (S1) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie F. Chriqui ◽  
Jean C. O'Connor ◽  
Frank J. Chaloupka
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Seat Belt ◽  
Caloric Intake ◽  
Second Hand Smoke ◽  
Paralytic Poliomyelitis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Health Laws

Does law matter regarding public health outcomes? Regardless of what one may think about the answer to this age-old question, in recent years the public health community has increasingly demonstrated and recognized the roles that public health laws and policies play in effectuating long-lasting and broad-based population-wide changes. Public health laws and policies have been instrumental in the following ways: reducing smoking prevalence; reducing underage alcohol-related drinking, driving, crashes, and fatalities; reducing exposure to second-hand smoke; eliminating vaccine–associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP); increasing seat-belt use and reducing traffic fatalities; reducing dental carries; and reducing access to and consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages sold in schools and to reductions in caloric intake and overweight. In fact, in a review of the ten greatest public health achievements in the 20th century, all were influenced by policy change.

Public Health and the Law

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 690-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
James G. Hodge ◽  
Lexi C. White ◽  
Andrew Sniegowski
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Structural Principles ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Private Actors

Promoting and protecting the public's health in the United States and abroad are intricately tied to laws and policies. Laws provide support for public health measures, authorize specific actions among public and private actors, and empower public health officials. Laws can also inhibit or restrict efforts designed to improve communal health through protections for individual rights or structural principles of government. Advancing the health of populations through law is complex and subject to constant tradeoffs. This column seeks to explore the role of law in the interests of public health through scholarly and applied assessments across a spectrum of key issues. The first of these assessments focuses on a critical topic in emergency legal preparedness.

scholarly journals Regulating Restraint and Seclusion in Australian Government Schools: A Comparative Human Rights Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony S McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Substantial Variation ◽  
Government Schools ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Human Rights Norms

The misuse of restraint and seclusion in Australian primary and secondary schools has received considerable exposure in recent years. Several Australian jurisdictions have recently reviewed laws and policies governing their use in schools. Yet reports about the inappropriate use of these practices remain prominent and raise concerns about whether existing regulatory frameworks do enough to protect the rights of children with disabilities in schools. This paper undertakes the first comparative analysis of existing regulatory frameworks governing the use of restraint and seclusion in Australian government schools, both primary and secondary, and considers whether existing frameworks are compliant with international human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’). The paper reveals substantial variation in regulation between jurisdictions, and demonstrates that significant reform is necessary to bring existing regulatory frameworks into alignment with human rights norms.

Prospects for US politics in 2021

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
At Home

Significance At home, his administration will focus on economic revival and reform, and on COVID-19 public health measures. In foreign affairs, Biden’s team will focus on rebuilding US alliances and cooperation, while promoting human rights and climate action.

Scientific Evaluation in Transdisciplinary Public Health Research and Practice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Burris ◽  
Micah L. Berman ◽  
Matthew Penn, and ◽  
Tara Ramanathan Holiday
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Impact Behavior ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Scientific Evaluation ◽  
Public Health Law ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Health Laws ◽  
Over Time

This chapter explores how public health law has evolved over time and introduces important legal processes. The chapter first describes evaluation of laws and policies through legal epidemiological principles. Then the chapter explores how to best evaluate laws and policies in order to test their effects, how they impact behavior, and whether or not they serve their purpose; the ultimate goal is to determine if the law is effectuating its purpose. Next, the chapter discusses legal mapping and policy surveillance: the process of mapping public health laws in an ongoing, systematic, scientific manner so that policymakers can catalogue laws between jurisdictions. The chapter closes with a summary of the five essential public health law services.

Infektionsschutz im liberalen Rechtsstaat

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutta Mers
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Health Measures

As the discussion on the introduction of mandatory vaccinations shows, there is nearly always a conflict between individual rights and public interests regarding public health questions. This book analyses if German infectious disease law has succeeded in solving this conflict. For this purpose, the conditions under which public health measures can be justified are considered. Based on this, the author examines if the central statutory provisions are in accordance with the constitution. In particular, this book deals with the question under which circumstances mandatory vaccinations can be established and whether the general clauses legally defined in German infectious disease law are in line with the constitution.

Legal Innovations to Advance a Culture of Health

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 904-912
Author(s):  
James G. Hodge ◽  
Kim Weidenaar ◽  
Andy Baker-White ◽  
Leila Barraza ◽  
Brittney Crock Bauerly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Public Health Practitioners ◽  
Health Laws

Since its inception in 2010, the Network for Public Health Law (Network) has aligned with federal, state, tribal, and local public health practitioners to assess how law can promote and protect the public’s health. In 2013, Network authors illustrated major trends in public health laws and policies emanating from an internal assessment of thousands of requests for technical assistance nationally. More recently, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has invited the Network and other partners to consider new ideas and strategies toward building a “culture of health.” Per Figure 1, RWJF’s conception of a culture of health emphasizes key action areas essential to the promotion of health across all sectors and diverse populations.

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