ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 summarises the key points and conclusions from the preceding analysis. The discussion looks ahead to how the European Court of Human Rights may address questions which have not yet been resolved relating to issues arising from the pandemic and provides observations on how such matters should be approached. It is argued that the Court should be cautious of finding breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights in cases involving public restrictions which were applied for the purpose of protecting life and health in response to a global pandemic. If the concept of a human rights violation is defined too broadly, it dilutes the seriousness of such a breach. In particular, it is argued that to preserve the legitimacy of human rights law, the Court must be cautious of applying an overly narrow margin of appreciation in such cases.
