[ad_1]
Guidelines regarding travel must be incorporated into law if members of the public, including civil servants and civilians, are to be enforced, international legal experts have said.
Speaking at an Oireachtas committee meeting on the Covid-19 response on Wednesday morning, President Michael McNamara highlighted cases where Irish public officials and several “high-profile” individuals were penalized for violating international travel guidelines. .
He cited a case in which an unidentified public servant was asked to apologize after traveling to Spain, despite the government advising against all non-essential travel to the country.
In response, Gianni Buquicchio, chairman of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe, and Jonathan Sumption, retired judge of the UK Supreme Court, said the guidelines, such as those relating to to travel, they are not applicable. and require “a legal basis”.
Mr. Sumption said that it is not enough for people to be “disciplined for not accepting government advice.”
“It appears to be critical that it should be incorporated into law, not just under the European convention, but as a matter of basic constitutional ownership under a common law system, as both the UK and Ireland have done,” he said.
“Civil servants are citizens and government employees, and where they choose to go on vacation belongs largely to their private lives as citizens. A legal basis for restrictions on where they can travel is absolutely essential. “
Mr. Sumption added that there is a “serious practical difficulty” in determining what is and what is not essential travel, as that would vary for each individual.
For countries within the Schengen area, travel restrictions were lifted on June 15, and restrictions between the Schengen area and non-members of the European Union ended on July 6, the committee heard.
However, these restrictions were lifted “without prejudice” to the rights of each State to introduce new restrictions if they considered it necessary.
Buquicchio said this is a “much bigger problem because it shows the lack of harmonization at the European level.”
He added that the European Union needs to “discuss this chaos”, to try “to harmonize all the laws … between the different countries.”
“There must be a European rule,” he said.
The two witnesses were invited to speak in committee to discuss the legislative framework that other countries have used in terms of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Sumption said there were three laws that the UK could have used to deal with the pandemic, adding that the government chose “controversially” the public act, which “does not confer specific powers” to impose a blockade.
He said other countries can learn “two main lessons” from the UK’s actions, such as that a government must be “very specific” if it is to impose measures that “drastically interfere with freedom”, and that it is “extremely important”. ”Have a high level of scrutiny of powers.
Buquicchio said that measures imposed to restrict the spread of the virus must be necessary, proportionate and temporary.
[ad_2]