Protecting Human Rights in Pandemic Situations: An Analysis of International Legal Responses in the Context of ‘Covid 19’ Outbreak

Abstract

In the context of domestic and international legal and institutional frameworks on protecting human rights, the responsibility of guaranteeing the rights of people cannot be entirely cast either on the sovereign States or the international community but a shared responsibility of both. However, how to draw the dividing line between the two has been an issue of legal, moral, political and many other forms. This research aims at examining the legal dimension of the paradigm shift of sovereignty that allows the international community to step into the areas once were determined exclusively as internal matters with no international interventions to be done. In this premise, this research particularly wishes to explore the questions of ‘why the matters under the purview of the domestic authorities should be taken over by the international community, what legal doctrine/s would support such a move and how to strike a balance between the two parties to harmonize the potential for disputes among the two with special reference to global pandemic situations such as Covid 19 health crisis. Since the research is a doctrinal analysis, qualitative method is used. Key findings expose that the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a globally accepted legal response in this millennium that provides a legitimate basis to divide the responsibility between two duty bearers. R2P recognizes that the primary responsibility should lie with the national authorities and in the cases of failure of this, the residual responsibility should be taken over by the international community. Although the ambit of this doctrine is to halt specifically designated mass atrocities against human beings, this research argues to adapt it suitably to guarantee the relevant human rights in circumstances where human rights are grossly violated, such as pandemic situations like Covid 19 health crisis, in par with the relevant international standards.