Pandemic and Restrictions of Human Rights - Conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights, Constitutional Framework and Practical Approach in the Republic of Croatia

U ovom će se radu iznijeti analiza usklađenosti ograničenja ljudskih prava s Europskom Konvencijom za zaštitu ljudskih prava i temeljnih sloboda. Da bi ograničenja ljudskih prava bila u skladu s Konvencijom moguće su dvije opcije. S jedne strane, moguće je opravdati miješanje u određena prava kada je to izričito određeno Konvencijom i uz pridržavanje svih uvjeta. S druge strane, Konvencija sadrži derogativnu klauzulu koja omogućava derogiranje nekih njome zajamčenih prava. Usporedba ova dvije opcije pokazuje kako njihove prednosti tako i mane. Nakon sagledavanja usklađenosti ograničenja ljudskih prava i sloboda s Konvencijom, analizirat će se stanje u Republici Hrvatskoj. Razlog tome je rasprava koja se u Republici Hrvatskoj od početka pandemije vodila oko ispravnog odgovora na pandemiju. Ustavni okvir pruža mogućnost proglašenja izvanrednog stanja radi nastupanja velike prirodne nepogode te će se u radu obraditi te ustavne norme i njihovo tumačenje. Međutim, Hrvatski sabor nije postupio po tim ustavnim odredbama i nije proglasio izvanredno stanje. Rješenje je pronađeno u izmjenama i dopunama dvaju zakona te je time utvrđen drugačiji model upravljanja krizom. Jedno od važnijih pitanja ovog rada jest zašto je donesena takva odluka. Oba rješenja uspoređivat će se kroz različite aspekte, a u obzir će se uzeti tumačenje Ustava prema stručnjacima i Ustavnom sudu Republike Hrvatske.The topic of this paper is the analysis of the compatibility of the restrictions of human rights with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. There exist two options for the restrictions to be deemed compatible with the Convention. On the one hand, it is possible to justify interference with certain human rights when that is explicitly determined by the Convention and if all the conditions are met. On the other hand, the Convention contains a derogation clause that enables the derogation of some rights protected therein in time of emergency. The comparison of these two options portrays both their advantages and disadvantages. After looking at the compatibility of the restrictions of human rights with the Convention, the analysis of the situation in the Republic of Croatia will be presented. The reason for this stems from the discussion that has been ongoing since the beginning of the pandemic on the topic of the proper response to it. The constitutional framework gives the possibility of declaring a state of emergency due to a natural disaster. In this paper, the constitutional norms as well as their interpretation will be presented. However, the Croatian Parliament did not act in accordance with those constitutional norms and a state of emergency was not declared. The solution was instead found in the amendments to the special legislation that had already existed prior to the pandemic, which resulted in a different model of crisis management. One of the most important questions of this paper is why such a decision was made. Both solutions will be compared through various aspects and the interpretation of the Constitution according to the experts and the Constitutional Court of Croatia will be taken into account as well