Human Rights and the State of Exception in the Covid-19 Era: The Cases of Hungary and Poland


Areti Moustou
Resumen

The present paper examines the ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting declarations of emergencies posed great threats to the rule of law and human rights. Giorgio Agamben’s narratives on exception were used and constituted the theoretical framework of this study. The study begins with the clarification of the idea of state of exception and the explanation of a certain phenomenon; the “medicalization of politics”. Subsequently, the cases of Hungary and Poland are being presented. The study concludes that the extreme measures undertaken by states in order to counter the health emergency, pose a huge threat to the operational qualification of the rule of law, as democracies tend to abuse the state of exception as a way to diverge from its provisions.

Article Details
  • Sección
  • Articles
Descargas
Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.
Biografía del autor/a
Areti Moustou, Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, Greece
Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, Greece
Citas
Agamben, G. (1998). Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Agamben, G. (2008). The State of Exception. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Amnesty International (2020). Policing the pandemic: Human rights violations in the enforcement of Covid-19 measures in Europe. London: Amnesty International.
BBC News (2020). Istanbul Convention: Poland to leave European treaty on violence against women. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53538205.
Benjamin, W. (2004). Critique Of Violence. In M. Jennings, Walter Benjamin: selected writings. Vol. 1 1913-1926. MA.
Council of Europe. (2020). Commissioner urges Hungary’s Parliament to postpone the vote on draft bills that, if adopted, will have far-reaching adverse effects on human rights in the country. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/commissioner-urges-hungary-s-parliament-to-postpone-the-vote-on-draft-bills-that-if-adopted-will-have-far-reaching-adverse-effects-on-human-rights-in-.
Deutsche Welle (2020). Poland: Opposition slams presidential election by post | DW | 25.04.2020. Available at: https://www.dw.com/en/poland-opposition-slams-presidential-election-by-post/a-53243297.
Diaz Crego, M., & Kotanidis, S. (2020). States of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis. Brussels: European Parliamentary Research Service. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2020/659385/EPRS_STU(2020)659385_EN.pdf
Euro News (2020). LGBT campaigners denounce President Duda's comments on "communism". Available at: https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/15/polish-president-says-lgbt-ideology-is-worse-than-communism.
Euro News (2021). Poland seeks to extend state of emergency on Belarus border amid criticism over migrants deaths. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/09/27/poland-seeks-to-extend-state-of-emergency-on-belarus-border-amid-criticism-over-migrants-d.
Euronews (2019). Polish parliament defies EU by passing controversial reform law. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/19/poland-protests-grow-as-parliament-debates-controversial-judges-law.
European Commision (2020b). Independence of Polish judges: Commission asks European Court of Justice for financial penalties against Poland on the activity of the Disciplinary Chamber. Brussels: European Commission. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_4587.
European Commission (2020a). October infringements package: key decisions. Brussels: European Commission. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_20_1687.
European Commission (2020c). Rule of Law Report Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Poland. Brussels: European Commission. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020SC0320&from=EN.
Giordanengo, D. (2016). The State Of Exception. E-International Relations. Available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2016/06/21/the-state-of-exception/
H.H.C. (2020). Background note on the consequences of the Authorization Act. Budapest: Hungarian Helsinki Committee. Available at: https://helsinki.hu/en/background-note-on-the-consequences-of-the-authorization-act/.
HRW (2021a). Hungary Events of 2020. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/hungary.
HRW (2021b). Poland Events of 2020. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/poland.
Human’s Right League (2020). Abus policiers et confinement. Brussels: Human’s Right League. Available at: http://www.liguedh.be/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Rapport-Police-Watch-LDH-2020.pdf
I.P.I. (2020). Hungary: Press freedom threatened as Orbán handed new powers. Vienna: International Press Institute. Available at: https://ipi.media/hungary-press-freedom-threatened-as-orban-handed-new-powers/.
Noémi, R. (2020). Special Legal Order and the State of Danger in Hungary: Government decrees issued between 11 and 31 March, 2020. Advocatus. Available at: https://blogs.dlapiper.com/advocatus/2020/05/special-legal-order-and-the-state-of-danger-in-hungary-government-decrees-issued-between-11-and-31-march-2020/.
Notes from Poland (2020). Poland declares state of epidemic emergency as first coronavirus death declared. Available at: https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/03/12/poland-declares-state-of-epidemic-emergency-as-first-coronavirus-death-declared/.
OHCHR (2020). COVID-19: States should not abuse emergency measures to suppress human rights – UN experts. Geneva: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25722&LangID=E.
Reporters Without Borders (2020a). Polish public broadcaster peddles government hate speech in presidential election run-up. Paris: Reporters Sans Frontieres. Available at: https://rsf.org/en/news/polish-public-broadcaster-peddles-government-hate-speech-presidential-election-run-1.
Reporters Without Borders (2020b). Unjustified firing of journalists from Poland’s state broadcaster. Paris: Reporters Sans Frontieres. Available at: https://rsf.org/en/news/unjustified-firing-journalists-polands-state-broadcaster.
Reuters (2020). Hungarian protestors demand academic freedom for top arts university. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-politics-education-theatre-idUSKBN25X0T7.
Schmitt, C. (2005). Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
The Guardian. (2020). Hungary's parliament blocks domestic violence treaty. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/05/hungarys-parliament-blocks-domestic-violence-treaty.
Vadim, Μ. (2020). 2021 Digital News Report: Poland. Oxford: Reuters Institute. Available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2021/poland.
WHO (2020). WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Wilczek, M. (2020). Poland declares state of epidemic emergency as first coronavirus death announced. Notes From Poland. Available at: https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/03/12/poland-declares-state-of-epidemic-emergency-as-first-coronavirus-death-declared/.
Artículos más leídos del mismo autor/a