Derogation of Human Rights in Situation of Public Emergency

According to human rights conventions and the relevant case-law, a state of emergency can be justified only by an exceptional situation of crisis which affects the whole population and constitutes a threat to the organized life of the community of which the state is composed. The threat must be imminent; its effects must involve the whole nation; the continuance of the organized life of the nation must be threatened; the crisis or danger must be exceptional in the sense that the normal measures or restrictions permitted by the Convention for the maintenance of public safety, health and order, are plainly inadequate. In a state of emergency measures can be taken that derogate from the protection normally afforded by human rights. Rights are not absolute and may legitimately be limited by law. But derogation must be proportional to the emergency. People can only be detained without trial for the specific purpose of restoring peace and order during an emergency. The government will have to justify the continued detention of such people to a court, and there are still certain rights that it is not permissible to derogate from.