CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE CR AND LITHUANIAs … 23 December 2020 and on 22 January 2021. After the expiration of the state of emergency on 14 February 2021, the government, against the explicit will of the majority in Parliament, declared a new state of emergency on 15 February 2021. This step caused significant legal uncertainty. 14 It was only after the adoption of a new Pandemic Act on 26 February 2021 that a political agreement on the state of emergency was reached. A new state of emergency was declared on 27 February 2021 which, after one more extension, expired on 11 April 2021. The new Act No. 94/2021 Sb., on emergency measures during the COVID-19 disease epidemic and on the amendment of certain related acts (Pandemic Act) took effect on 27 February 2021. It reflects various legal problems related to the solution of the COVID-19 crisis. The popular name “Pandemic Act” is somehow misleading as the new law does not address all future epidemics or pandemics but only the current COVID-19 epidemic caused by the new coronavirus SARS CoV-2. With the entry into force of the Pandemic Act, a new extraordinary state is introduced, the so-called state of pandemic alert which can be terminated or renewed by a resolution of the Chamber of Deputies adopted on the proposal of the government or one-fifth of all deputies. Although originally intended to replace the standard state of emergency under the Security Act, the new state of pandemic alert, after 27 February 2021, was applied side by side with a state of emergency under the Security Act. Further, the Pandemic Act functions as lex special in relation to the Public Health Act. 15 According to the Explanatory report to the Pandemic Act, the Public Health Act does not offer a sufficient range of tools to manage the COVID-19 epidemic. The authors of the Pandemic Act contend that the regulation of extraordinary measures under the Public Health Act is very piecemeal and caused doubts concerning their legitimacy. Therefore, the purpose of the new Pandemic Act is to provide clear legal guidelines for the adoption of measures intended to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. A relatively extensive list of extraordinary measures is contained in Section 2 of the Pandemic Act. The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic or the competent regional hygienic stations may order, among other things, the restriction of public transport or determination of conditions of its operation, the restriction of specific economic activities and the prohibition or restriction of public or private events involving the cumulation of persons in one place. These measures may be imposed only to the extent necessary and for the necessary period. However, the Pandemic Act does not serve as a legal basis for general restrictions on the freedom of movements such as e.g. a night curfew or a ban on travelling between districts. Such measures need to be based only on the Crisis Act or the Public Health Act. We may conclude that the Pandemic Act is the most important legislative change adopted in reaction to the COVID crises. 2.2 Measures of the executive branch Generally speaking, a crisis situation strengthens the role of the executive power and weakens the legislative branch. Whereas Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedom, which is an integral part of the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, 14 For the constitutional implications, see Vikarská, Z.: Czechs and Balances – One Year Later, VerfBlog, 2021/3/30, https://verfassungsblog.de/czechs-and-balances-one-year-later. 15 In principle, however, the Pandemic Act does not affect the authority of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and regional hygienic stations to issue emergency measures under the Public Health Act.

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