UK: Don’t renew Coronavirus Act provisions that harm rights

The UK Parliament is likely to renew the government’s emergency powers to combat COVID-19 this week, but the relevant law — the Coronavirus Act 2020 — includes provisions that continue to threaten human rights. Parliament should amend the Act considerably, including to protect the right to protest.

The Coronavirus Act 2020, the legislation allowing the government to place limits on everyday life to address the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled for renewal by the House of Commons on 25 March. However, the Act contains provisions which can thwart legitimate protests and let the government postpone democratic elections.

We are all better informed now about COVID-19 and its effects than we were at the beginning of the pandemic. The UK Government has had time to learn from its earlier missteps, including the provisions of the Coronavirus Act that overreach, and Parliament should show that it has considered how to protect the public without harming rights and freedoms.

In the past year, the pandemic has severely impacted many groups that were already vulnerable or marginalised in the UK, such as asylum seekers, ethnic minority groups, survivors of domestic violence, and people with disabilities, among others. Protecting the rights of these groups — including their rights to protest, health, education and privacy — therefore remains especially important.

Human rights laws recognise that sometimes, governments will need to restrict rights to protect public health or safety. However, such restrictions must be essential to achieving these goals, and must not be excessive nor abusive. As outlined in RSI’s toolkit, ‘Emergency Powers and Crisis Responses: Human Rights Risk’, any limits on rights under emergency laws such as the Coronavirus Act must be necessary, proportionate and non-discriminatory.

RSI calls on UK Ministers and Members of Parliament to seriously consider the necessity and proportionality of each section of the Coronavirus Act, and avoid simply renewing provisions that were unnecessary and harmful to rights in the first place.