Challenges to the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms Including Patient Rights During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey

The COVID-19 virus, which first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread quickly to the whole world in a few months, was defined as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 12 March 2020. This process has inevitably brought along problems in many areas, including health, education, social, economics, law, psychology, politics, and international relations. The pandemic era is a period when we appreciate more than ever how valuable our fundamental rights and freedoms are. Of these rights, the right to health and patient rights are significantly adversely impacted. This chapter will evaluate human rights, especially patient rights, mostly affected during this pandemic period in Turkey. This chapter further presents that other states are also continuing to experience effects of the pandemic. Both Turkey and other states must be prepared for the patients to properly benefit from the healthcare system in future outbreaks and pandemics. Otherwise, human and patient rights will continue to suffer.

Applicability of ePrivacy Directive to national data retention measures following invalidation of the Data Retention Directive

The paper analyses rules pertinent for examination of national data retention measures regulating data processing activities of providers of electronic communication services following invalidation of the Data Retention Directive in 2014, on which subject the CJEU issued a total of five judgments up until June 2021. Focus of this analysis is the issue of applicability of EU law as interpreted in the CJEU case law, most specifically Article 15, paragraph 1 of the ePrivacy Directive containing legal safeguards for the restrictions of rights and obligations in that directive on the confidentiality of communications as well as the processing of traffic and location data. Such restrictions are as a rule manifested in different national data retention measures, which may pursue law enforcement and public security, as well as national security objectives. This examination is supported also by analysis of rules on the scope of ePrivacy Directive and its relationship with the general personal data protection framework. Overall findings in the paper provide a frame for further detailed research on the topic of future regulation of retention measures at national/EU level (Proposal for ePrivacy Regulation, possible new EU data retention legislation) and a comparative assessment of relevant CJEU jurisprudence with that of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of compatibility of retention measures with the guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms and allowed restrictions thereof in the European legal system.

From the pandemic to the recovery: a legal analysi

The Covid pandemic has raised various legal issues, fueling the scientific debate on the relationship between fundamental rights and freedoms in the global emergency context. Moreover, a case law has started developing within the different jurisdictions. Additionally, constitutional Courts, in different countries, have ruled over potential conflicts of interest among central powers and local ones, and even some decisa of the Court of Justice of the European Union have started “blossoming” in this area. Against the backdrop of this analysis, the paper discusses the main legal problems sparked off by the declaration of the state of emergency, with a focus on the main EU jurisdictions and with glimpses of non-EU countries. The aim of this is to discuss the balance between fundamental rights and liberties in decisa in different legal systems, as well as the interpretation given to principles of proportionality of the public health measures, adequacy, precaution and loyal collaboration and the relationship between freedom and limits to public power. Bearing this in mind, the purpose of the work is to demonstrate that, first and foremost, in Europe there is room for both a formal and a substantial recognition of common rights and liberties in terms of interpretation and application of constitutional traditions, shared by the different Member States. The relevant adherence to these principles is guaranteed by the European Court of Justice. Second, the recovery after the pandemic is an open challenge. An important opportunity for Europe and its Member States is materialising, and this is to take a step forward on the bumpy path toward a European Political Union capable of strengthening a structure weakened by several earthquakes. A path and a project still plenty of pitfalls that needs to regroup around a central core increasing unification among European peoples (art. 1 TEU), which has never meant to be an alternative to national identity. Received: 24.11.2021Accepted: 13.12.2021

Constitutional foundations and principles of the formation of a sovereign, secular, and democratic state in India: history and modernity

The purpose of the research was to study the fundamental provisions of the Constitution of India and the amendments made to it, which regulate the constitutional foundations and principles of the formation of a sovereign, secular, and democratic state. In addition, the article discusses the constitutional provisions relating to the acquisition of independence, the freedom of India, the formal establishment and consolidation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens and the abolition of the institution of untouchability. The study of the role and importance of the political and legal views of the leader of the national liberation movement, the philosopher and jurist Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in shaping the constitutional foundations and state structure of India is of some interest. The author used a complex of scientific methods to achieve the objective. It is concluded that the achievement of India's political independence, the declaration of equal rights and freedoms and the abolition of the untouchable caste in the state Constitution, is a significant contribution to the development of this country and a rapid step in increasing India's importance in the world.

Status autonomiczny oraz ustrój samorządu Wysp Alandzkich

The autonomous status of the Åland Islands and the system of its self-government against Finland’s territorial and administrative structure constitute a fascinating research area in the field of constitutional law and political systems. Such research makes it possible to determine which principles of the system of the division into territorial units possessing autonomous status within the territorial structure of the state and its self-government should be introduced at the legal, constitutional and statutory level in order to ensure the population inhabiting it with a sufficient level of separateness and independence, protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, and at the same time guarantee the territorial integrity of the state. The study also makes it possible to determine which legal mechanisms and instruments of the organization and functioning of autonomous regions, distinguished by some specific feature, need to be applied in order for the system of such a unit to be effective in the performance of public tasks of their own and those commissioned by state authorities by self-government bodies of this region and to enable the self-government of the region serving its citizens at its best. In the case of Finland, it is of great importance for the protection of fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms, especially for ethnically and culturally separate social groups. The aim of this study is the legal analysis of the autonomous status and the local government system of the Åland Islands, applied and currently functioning in Finland, and its subject is an exegesis of the norms concerning the subject matter under the study, contained in the Fundamental Law of 1999 being in force in Finland and the relevant statutory regulations, as well as practices of the functioning of this region within the state from the perspective of its division into other basic units and the system of local government.

The Idea of Human Rights: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the development of the idea of human rights, starting from the Ancient World, and on this basis to show its significance in the digital age. To achieve this goal, the conceptual foundations of the idea of human rights and their reflection in political and legal thought at different stages of the evolution of society and science are analysed. The subject of the study was the concept of human rights. The study was conducted on the basis of post-non-classical scientific methodology, including constructivism. The formal-legal and comparative-historical methods are also used. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that in the conditions of modern technological development, digitalisation is becoming a challenge to the idea of human rights, a threat to individual freedom, and therefore it is necessary to develop and implement new legal mechanisms that would guarantee the full implementation of fundamental rights and freedoms, provide the necessary balance between individual freedom and public security. In this context, the legal consolidation and practical implementation of the principle of formal equality become important.

Women's adversities

It is up to the State to promote appropriate measures to “guarantee fundamental rights and freedoms and the respect for the principles of a democratic law State”, in accordance with Article 9 (b) of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. Our objectives were to examine how the Portuguese legislator is attentive to the particularities of being a woman in matters such as hygiene, health, motherhood and parental education during the execution of sentences and we wanted to investigate the mechanisms triggered by the State for protection, as a preventive measure, of women as victims of crimes. We made research, in numerical terms, to know the rate of constituted women accused in criminal proceedings, as well as the number of convicted, from a set of recent and of reference official documentary sources, based on the existing statistical resources. We also made an analysis of the pertinent legislative diplomas, among them, the aforementioned Code of the Execution of Penalties and Freedom Deprivation Measures and the General Regulation of Prison Establishments. The fulfilment of a prison sentence implies vast and varied consequences, from personal to familiar, passing through social and professional consequences, among others. We concluded that compared to the male universe, the number of women accused and convicted is clearly lower. On the other hand, it is women who make up the largest share as victims of certain offenses. According to the 2019 Annual Report, authored by APAV, female victims amounted to 8,394.

APOTEOZA SOCIJALNE DRŽAVE: IMPERATIVNI ZAHTJEV OSTVARENJA SOCIJALNE PRAVDE U REPUBLICI HRVATSKOJ

By deliberate choice of the Croatian constitution-makers, the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia protects all economic, social and cultural rights guaranteed by constitutions of developed European democracies and by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Croatia is a party. This creates a dual (constitutional and international) obligation for the Croatian legislature to establish a socially just order. Although the constitutional text places both of the human rights generations within the same title, the constitutional jurisprudence adopted a position, whereby socioeconomic rights are excluded from the sphere of organic laws used to elaborate the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms. This development notwithstanding, the potential of their protection before the Constitutional Court has not been reduced, as the Court has developed an impressive list of doctrinal positions on the nature of social rights, committing to the concept of social state as a foundational element of European constitutionalism. Still, we would be remiss if we did not emphasize the Constitutional Court's passive stance towards the political branches of the government regarding the social rights and must therefore plead for a more active approach in that regard.

Romania: derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights – freedom of expression during public emergency

A pandemic can provide a textbook example for the restrictions of fundamental rights and freedoms. Romania has decided to derogate from the application of the European Convention on Human Rights during the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions discussed in this paper are whether the derogation of Romania fulfils the criteria established by the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. If the answer is affirmative: does it have any effect on the inherent limitations on the freedom of expression as stated in art. 10 of ECHR?

Area, Extent, and Restriction of Fundamental Rights During the Special Legal Order, with Exceptional Regard to the Epidemiological Situation in the Territory of the Slovak Republic

The Slovak Republic, as other countries around the world, was affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the first half of 2020. This epidemiological situation has had a substantial social impact on the basis of which it was necessary to take measures that affected the daily lives of individuals. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, states have often been forced to apply restrictions that were on the verge of acceptance in terms of respect for fundamental rights. Interference with such sensitive issues as fundamental rights and the adaptation of urgent and immediate measures to minimise the spread of the coronavirus had to be effective and conform to the requirements of balance and mutual proportionality. In 2020, the Slovak Republic, as many countries, faced difficulties in the fight against the coronavirus. This paper focuses on this global problem, the steps taken by government officials in the Slovak Republic, and the theoretical basis for respecting and exercising fundamental rights in this area. The aim of the introduction of this professional article is to present the anchoring of fundamental rights and freedoms in the context of revolutionary events. The purpose of the remaining portions of this expert article is to explain and analyse the related and most discussed legal facts that have had a social impact following the discovery of the coronavirus in the Slovak Republic. An additional intention is to elucidate and generalise the solutions that have been introduced in the fight against the pandemic while noting the actual steps taken by the government over time.