Derogation from human rights in the state of emergency

Abstract

The state of emergency represents a specific legal regime, which can be activated at times of danger that threatens the existence of the nation or its citizens and can make possible for the government to derogate from certain human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. In the Republic of Serbia, the state of emergency was declared in 2020. due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Consequently, some rights and freedoms were derogated. The aim of this paper is to analyse the measures at hand, which limit the aforementioned human rights, and in particular to assess whether or not they were in compliance with the Constitution and the European Convention. As the topic of emergency states is multifaceted, it is imperative to look at the situation from different perspectives – however, the main part of this paper is the evaluation of the regime during the state of emergency in the Republic of Serbia.