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Coronavirus: guidance to governments on respecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law
@ Council of Europe

@ Council of Europe

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, has issued a toolkit for governments across Europe on respecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Information Document was sent to all 47 Council of Europe member states yesterday.

“The virus is destroying many lives and much else of what is very dear to us. We should not let it destroy our core values and free societies,” said the Secretary General.

“The major social, political and legal challenge facing our member states will be their ability to respond to this crisis effectively, whilst ensuring that the measures they take do not undermine our genuine long-term interest in safeguarding Europe’s founding values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” she added.

The toolkit is designed to help ensure that measures taken by member states during the current crisis remain proportional to the threat posed by the spread of the virus and are limited in time.

The document covers four key areas:

  • Derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights in times of emergency
  • Respect for the rule of law and democratic principles in times of emergency, including limits on the scope and duration of emergency measures
  • Fundamental human rights standards including freedom of expression, privacy and data protection, protection of vulnerable groups from discrimination and the right to education
  • Protection from crime and the protection of victims of crime, in particular regarding gender-based violence.

The Information Document also refers to new advice from the Committee of the Parties of the Council of Europe’s MEDICRIME Convention on the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes.


 Information Document: Respecting democracy, rule of law and human rights in the framework of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis


 Press release
Coronavirus: Council of Europe issues guidance to governments on respecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law

Strasbourg, France 5 May 2020
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Covid 19

At a time when the Covid-19 epidemic is posing unprecedented challenges to the health sector, the Council of Europe calls on governments to be extremely vigilant against counterfeit or falsified medicines and medical products. Faced with this threat, states can rely on the MEDICRIME Convention to safeguard public health and target the criminal behaviour of those who, like criminal networks, take advantage of the loopholes in our systems and of the current crisis.

Handbook for Parliamentarians

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Handbook for Parliamentarians

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"In recent years, occurrences of counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes have increased worldwide. These crimes endanger public health, and affect patients and their confidence in the legal marketplace.

Even more profitable than drug trafficking, this new form of crime has an undeniable advantage for criminals: they go largely unpunished or receive only mild sanctions. Even when states take strict measures to regulate the production and distribution of medical products and devices, these measures often prove insufficient, especially when criminal networks find gaps in national legislations allowing them to make substantial profits at the expense of people’s lives and health. The MEDICRIME Convention was drafted to protect vulnerable patients and their right to safe access to medicines of appropriate quality, and to fight against organised crime. As the first and only international treaty dealing with this problem, the convention aims at prosecuting the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes, protecting the rights of victims and promoting national and international co-operation."

Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe