ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 discusses the duties of states parties under Article 2 (the right to life) and Article 3 (the right to be free from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights to adopt measures to protect individuals from COVID-19. These duties were particularly pertinent in respect of persons who were clinically vulnerable to the virus, such as those who were elderly or who had underlying health conditions. However, there were other categories of individuals who were also at greater risk from COVID-19 due to their circumstances, such as those in detention facilities, and toward whom states, therefore, had particular duties to ensure that their rights under Articles 2 and 3 were not breached in the context of the pandemic. This chapter then proceeds to examine decisions of the European Court of Human Rights relating to claims that states did not adopt sufficient measures to provide adequate protection against COVID-19.
