Global Pandemics and International Law

Ilja Richard Pavone is a Researcher of International Law at the National Research Council of Italy, Rome, where he coordinates the research unit in International, European and National Biolaw. He is a member of the Scientific Secretariat of the CNR Research Ethics and Bioethics Committee. He is currently Professor of Research Ethics at University Bicocca, Milan. In the past, he has taught at the universities of Rome (Sapienza), La Tuscia (Viterbo), Venice (Venice International University), Macerata and Siena. He has been Visiting Professor in several universities and research institutions, such as Queensland University, Bochum University and Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Heidelberg). He is currently member of the Coordinating Committee of the ESIL Interest Groups on Biolaw and Peace and Security. He is author of over fifty publications, essays and articles in International Law and European Union Law, with a particular focus on Bioethics, Human Rights, Animal Law, Health Law and Environmental Protection. He is also a member of the Scientific Board of the journal "The Future of Science and Ethics", published by the Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. In 2018, he edited a book with Routledge, entitled International Biolaw and Shared Ethical Principles. The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights.

Acknowledgments

Preface

CHAPTER I The World Health Organization (WHO) and the global governance of diseases

PART I The Birth of the WHO and the International Health Regulations

1. Introduction

2. The international health regime prior to the creation of the WHO

2.1. The phase of health unilateralism

2.2. The shift of the XX Century

3. The WHO’s foundations

4. The WHO’s structure and its Institutional Set Up

5. The legal powers of the WHO

6. The International Health Regulations

6.1. Negotiation process

6.2. The all risk approach

6.3. Main duties upon States

6.3.1. Information sharing

6.3.2. Capacity building obligations

7. Soft law instruments

8. Global strategies

PART II The Right to Health and International Law

9. The right to health

10. Health and human rights

11. The international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

12. Sectorial treaties and right to health

12.1. General human rights treaties (at universal or regional scope)

12.2. Regional level

12.3. Biolaw and right to health

13. International jurisprudence

14. Conclusions

CHAPTER II IS THE WHO TRULY INDEPENDENT: SUCCESSES, FAILURES AND PERSPECTIVES OF REFORM

1. Short Overview of WHO’s Achievements and Failures

2. The Epidemiological Transition Model

3. WHO declarations of PHEIC

4. Declarations of PHEIC: the WHO’s practice

4.1. The pandemic of H1N1 influenza (2009-2010)

4.2. The resurgence of Wild Polio (2014-)

4.3. The case of MERS

4.4. The case of Ebola 2014-2016

4.5. The case of Zika

4.6. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2019-2020)

4.7. The COVID-19 outbreak

4.8. The Monkeypox outbreak

5. The WHO’s lack of enforcement powers

6. How to improve the global health architecture

6.1. The Call for a Reform

6.2. The New Pandemic Treaty

6.3. Advantages

6.4. Drawbacks and other options

7. Conclusions

CHAPTER III THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE GLOBAL, AND DOMESTIC RESPONSES: WHAT WENT WRONG?

1.Introduction

2.The Levels of Responsibility for the spread of COVID-19

a) The WHO

b) China

c) The Member States

3. The ‘Mission Creep’ of the WHO

4. In search of the WHO’s Responsibilities

4.1. Background

4.2. The meetings of the Emergency Committee of 22-23 January 2020 and the decision not to declare a PHEIC

4.3. What went wrong?

a) The role of the Emergency Committee

b) Design Flaw

5. The Declaration of PHEIC of 30 January 2020 and the measures recommended

6. The Declaration of the Pandemic of COVID-19 as a trigger for domestic pandemic plans

7. Concluding Remarks

CHAPTER IV The Origins of COVID-19, Pandemic Risk, and the Limits of Environmental Law

1. Disease Spillover and environmental degradation

2. Zoonotic Diseases and the Limits of Environmental Law

3. The Gaps of Environmental Law

3.1.Wildlife Law

3.2. Forest Law

4. The Problem of Wet Markets and the Lack of a Global Ban

5. A Global Ban of Wet Markets and the One Health Approach

6. Conclusions

CHAPTER V COVID-19 VACCINES, THE END OF THE PANDEMICS AND UNSETTLED ISSUES

PART I

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, VACCINE NATIONALISM AND DISTRIBUTIVE DILEMMAS

1. Introduction

2. The distributive dilemma and vaccine nationalism

3. The necessity of a global roll out of COVID-19 vaccines

4. Overview of Patent Law

4.1. The TRIPS Agreement

4.2. Patent rights vs. public health

4.3. States obligations and global solidarity

5. COVID-19 vaccines and benefit sharing

5.1. Fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines

5.1.1. The Target of Global Health Coverage

5.1.2. COVID-19 Vaccines as a Common Public Good?

6. Specific Declarations on fair and equitable access

6.1. Global level

6.1.1. WHO

6.1.2. United Nations

7. The COVAX initiative

8.Some remarks on the lessons learned by vaccine nationalism

PART II

Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations and Human Rights in Europe: how to find a Delicate Balance?

9 .Vaccine Hesitancy

10. A brief history of vaccinations

11. The European model on vaccinations

12. COVID-19 and Mandatory Vaccinations

13. The European legal framework

13.1. The European Union

13.2. The Council of Europe

14. Vaccines and right to life

15. Vaccines and right to private life

16. Vaccines and freedom of thought, conscience and religion

17. Some thoughts on compulsory vaccinations

18. Concluding remarks

CHAPTER VI Infectious diseases as a threat to peace and security and COVID-19: one step behind?

PART I: Framing the issue: infectious diseases and security

1. Introduction

2. New threats to peace and security

3. Resolution 2177/2014 and the securitization of health

4. The conceptual foundation of Resolution 2177

PART II: The Security Council facing the COVID-19 Pandemic

5. The stalemate of the Security Council at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

6. Resolution 2532 (2020)

7. The legal nature of Resolution 2532 (2020)

8. Similarities and differences between Resolutions 2177 (2014) and 2532 (2020)

9. Resolution 2565 (2021)

10. Concluding Remarks

Conclusions