Documents: With tag Fundamental rights

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused global effects on a scale incomparable to any other event in human history. The fast-growing health crisis, which hit almost every country in the world, is causing unforeseeable economic and social consequences, from which humanity is yet to recover. Given the seriousness and uncertainty of the events, many governments, including ours, considered it necessary to declare a state of emergency in order to properly address the dangers and harms of the new coronavirus. And since in times of а state emergency the Government can take action beyond what would normally be allowed, it also meant an alarm for the vigilance of human rights defenders.

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused global effects on a scale incomparable to any other event in human history. The fast-growing health crisis, which hit almost every country in the world, is causing unforeseeable economic and social consequences, from which humanity is yet to recover. Given the seriousness and uncertainty of the events, many governments, including ours, considered it necessary to declare a state of emergency in order to properly address the dangers and harms of the new coronavirus. And since in times of а state emergency the Government can take action beyond what would normally be allowed, it also meant an alarm for the vigilance of human rights defenders.

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused global effects on a scale incomparable to any other event in human history. The fast-growing health crisis, which hit almost every country in the world, is causing unforeseeable economic and social consequences, from which humanity is yet to recover. Given the seriousness and uncertainty of the events, many governments, including ours, considered it necessary to declare a state of emergency in order to properly address the dangers and harms of the new coronavirus. And since in times of а state emergency the Government can take action beyond what would normally be allowed, it also meant an alarm for the vigilance of human rights defenders.

This Shadow Report streamlines in a coherent unity all findings, conclusions and recommendations deriving from monitoring the areas covered by Chapter 23 -Judiciary and Fundamental Rights. This is the fifth Shadow Report published by the European Policy Institute-Skopje (EPI) while taking into consideration the comments and opinions of the 23 Network members. The previous four Shadow Reports cover the period from October 2014 to July 2015, then the period from July 2015 to April 2016, the period from May 2016 to January 2018 and the period from June 2018 to March 2019.

For the first time in the country’s history, on March 18, the first decision ever was taken to declare a state of emergency throughout the country. In this state, the Government could enact decrees with legal force. The second decision was made on April 17. Although decrees were aimed at preserving the health of citizens, they (in) directly negatively affected the economy, and thus harmed the quality of life of citizens, and undermined the satisfaction of existential needs of the most vulnerable categories. Some of the most vulnerable categories are the citizens of the Roma ethnic community, still facing discrimination, poverty and exclusion. The consequences of COVID-19 particularly have affected the most disadvantaged people that depend on daily earnings in the informal economy, who live in substandard conditions and who have not been provided with the means to live a dignified life. In this short overview, we analyze the consequences of COVID-19 until May 2020, regarding the Roma