Konstytucyjne przesłanki ograniczenia wolności i praw człowieka ze względu na ochronę zdrowia publicznego w świetle doświadczeń zwalczania COVID-19

Restrictions on human rights and freedoms enacted in connection with the fight against

COVID-19 reminded the public that the Constitution is not a symbolic act, but a document

laying the foundations for the functioning of the state and a guarantee of the

inviolability of human freedoms and rights.

Due to the fact that the fight against COVID-19 was based on the limitation of the freedoms

and rights of individuals, it should be recalled which constitutional conditions

should be met by such restrictions enacted for the protection of public health. Article

31 (3) of the Polish Constitution sets out for state authorities the conditions and limits

of interference in the sphere of freedoms and rights of individuals. The former include

the requirement of the statutory form of introducing restrictions, which enforces the

transparency of the legislative process and ensures that the content of the regulation is

controlled by the representatives of the nation sitting in the parliament. Moreover, enacting

restrictions must be related to the protection of one of the values listed in the provision,

including public health. The limits of interference are determined by the principle

of proportionality and the prohibition of violating the essence of freedoms and rights.

The legislative activity of the COVID-19 epidemic has shown that the enacted law

raises constitutional doubts at the level of a formal premise. Enacting restrictions on

freedoms and rights in sub-statutory acts based on a questionable legal basis has led

to social unrest, undermined citizens’ trust in the state and the laws it enacted, and

weakened the actual impact of legal regulations. The latter should be assessed negatively

from the point of view of the usefulness imperative. The implementation of the

requirement of proportionality in the strict sense may also raise a number of doubts.

Finally, the practice of suspending the constitutional rights of an individual can be

assessed negatively. An example of such a practice may be a temporary, total ban on

certain types of economic activity or severe restrictions on the number of believers

who can participate in religious worship.