The Stellenbosch Consensus on the International Legal Obligation to Collaborate and Assist in Addressing Pandemics: Clarifying Article 44 of the International Health Regulations

Authors

Margherita Cinà, Global Strategy Lab, 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,
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
Roojin Habibi, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
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

10.1163/15723747-2020024

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 potential global health emergencies such as the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. While Article 44 of this binding legal instrument requires countries to collaborate and assist each other in meeting their respective obligations, recent events demonstrate that the precise nature and scope of these legal obligations are ill-understood. A shared understanding of the level and type of collaboration legally required by the IHR is a necessary step in ensuring these obligations can be acted upon and fully realized, and in 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 44 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. 158-187. Published online: Advance Articles, Dec. 02, 2020, Pgs. 1-30.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Cinà, Margherita; Hoffman, Steven J.; Burci, Gian Luca; Campos, Thana Cristina de; Chirwa, Danwood; Dagron, Stéphanie; Eccleston-Turner, Mark; Forman, Lisa; Gostin, Lawrence O.; Habibi, Roojin; Meier, Benjamin Mason; Negri, Stefania; Ooms, Gorik; Sekalala, Sharifah; Taylor, Allyn; and Yamin, Alicia Ely, "The Stellenbosch Consensus on the International Legal Obligation to Collaborate and Assist in Addressing Pandemics: Clarifying Article 44 of the International Health Regulations" (2020). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2339.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2339