CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE CR AND LITHUANIAs … During the crisis we learned that a somehow under-estimated right, such as the freedom of movement which on the national as well as the European level appeared to be granted, may be suspended to a degree which would have been hardly imaginable before March 2020. The legislative acts invoked were related to civil protection and containment of the spread of communicable diseases, but the “test” of the pandemic of such scale indicated their shortcomings. In the light of the current challenge, both the Czech Republic and Lithuania had to introduce changes in legislation specifying the limitations on human rights and on the right of movement. Executive measures were adopted in uncertain situations, sometimes quite chaotically, and were changed in some cases almost every week. This could be said to be required by the exigencies of the situation, but on the other hand, it greatly influences the rights of the persons and legal entities and are possibly contrary to the principle of legitimate expectations. The judiciary seems to be the weakest link in the chain of legal reactions to the pandemic, at least in the short term. As executive measures are often taken with a short lifespan and are frequently amended, there seems to be little room for judicial review. The second problem is the possible assessment of old executive acts in the light of new scientific knowledge. The reference framework for the review shall not be the current state of knowledge at the time of decision-making, but at the time of the adoption of a disputed act. Such an ex-ante analysis may appear unsatisfactory.

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