Human Rights in Times of Emergency

The final report of the International Law Association Committee on Human Rights in Times of Emergency (hereafter, the Committee or CHRTE) critically examines selected State practice on emergency situations with a focus on the last three decades. States have pursued emergency measures in increasingly numerous and diverse contexts. They have done so with or without formally declaring states of emergency and/or notifying relevant United Nations (UN) or regional bodies. As such, the following three types of states of emergency that can be observed in practice will be the focus of the report: declared and notified (derogation), declared (de jure), and non-declared (de facto) emergencies. By analysing State practice, the present report demonstrates the profound impact that states of emergency have on the enjoyment of human rights, the rule of law and democratic governance. It should be read together with the CHRTE’s interim report (2020), which identified developments in standard-setting over the last 30 years relating to states of emergency through a review of the practice of UN treaty bodies, regional commissions and courts, and other human rights mechanisms.