The Stellenbosch Consensus on Legal National Responses to Public Health Risks: Clarifying Article 43 of the International Health Regulations

Authors

Roojin Habibi, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Steven J. Hoffman, Global Strategy Lab, York University
Gian Luca Burci, Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
Thana Cristina de Campos, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Danwood Chirwa, University of Cape Town,
Margherita Cinà, Global Strategy Lab, York University
Stéphanie Dagron, University of Geneva
Mark Eccleston-Turner, School of Law, Keele University
Lisa Forman, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Lawrence O. Gostin, Georgetown University - Law Center - O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health LawFollow
Benjamin Mason Meier, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillFollow
Stefania Negri, Department of Legal Sciences, University of Salerno
Gorik Ooms, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Sharifah Sekalala, School of Law, Warwick University
Allyn Taylor, School of Law, University of Washington
Alicia Ely Yamin, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics, Harvard University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2-2020

DOI

10.1163/15723747-2020023

Abstract

The International Health Regulations (IHR), of which the World Health Organization is custodian, govern how countries collectively promote global health security, including prevention, detection, and response to global health emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Countries are permitted to exercise their sovereignty in taking additional health measures to respond to such emergencies if these measures adhere to Article 43 of this legally binding instrument. Overbroad measures taken during recent public health emergencies of international concern, however, reveal that the provision remains inadequately understood. A shared understanding of the measures legally permitted by Article 43 is a necessary step in ensuring the fulfillment of obligations, and fostering global solidarity and resilience in the face of future pandemics. In this consensus statement, public international law scholars specializing in global health consider the legal meaning of Article 43 using the interpretive framework of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Publication Citation

International Organizations Law Review, Vol. 19, Issue 1, Special Issue: Reforming the International Health Regulations, June 2022, Pp. 90-157. Published online: Advance Articles, Dec. 02, 2020, Pgs. 1-68.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Habibi, Roojin; Hoffman, Steven J.; Burci, Gian Luca; Campos, Thana Cristina de; Chirwa, Danwood; Cinà, Margherita; Dagron, Stéphanie; Eccleston-Turner, Mark; Forman, Lisa; Gostin, Lawrence O.; Meier, Benjamin Mason; Negri, Stefania; Ooms, Gorik; Sekalala, Sharifah; Taylor, Allyn; and Yamin, Alicia Ely, "The Stellenbosch Consensus on Legal National Responses to Public Health Risks: Clarifying Article 43 of the International Health Regulations" (2020). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2338.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2338