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Portrait of Yana Litins'ka

Yana Litins'ka

Senior lecturer

Portrait of Yana Litins'ka

An Ounce of Prevention for a Pound of Cure? Infection Disease Testing at the Border

Author

  • Yana Litins'ka

Editor

  • Moa Dahlin
  • Jameson Garland
  • Anna-Sara Lind
  • Anna Singer
  • Santa Slokenberga

Summary, in English

On 5 January 2023, the Swedish Government announced the decision to introduce new restrictions to enter Sweden: due to the spread of Covid-19 in China, travellers from this direction need to show negative Covid-test results. In cases when there is no possibility of showing the results, the travellers are not allowed to enter Sweden. Governmental Ordinance (2023:2) was temporary and lasted from 7 January until 19 February 2023.
Although the Ordinance is no longer in force, the fact of its enaction raises several public law concerns. Firstly, the concerns about the rule of law and the legal nature of such testing within the Swedish legal order must be addressed. Chapter 2 Article 6 of the Instrument of Government (hereinafter – IoG) prohibits forced bodily interventions; the right can be limited only by Parliament and, if necessary, in a democratic society. Governmental Ordinance 2023:2 raises the question of whether it limits the freedom from bodily interventions in the constitutional meaning. Secondly, if it will be concluded that the decisions about testing for infectious disease are the exclusive competence of Parliament, the central questions of legislative preparedness to prevent epidemic outbreaks in Sweden via testing those who arrive from the countries where such outbreaks occur must be raised.
This contribution analyses the possibilities and hindrances for introducing compulsory testing to enter Sweden, such as the one established under Ordinance 2023:2. The analysis focuses on national constitutional and administrative law norms.

Department/s

  • Department of Law
  • Public Law
  • Health Law
  • Norma Research Programme
  • Human Rights Law
  • Public International Law
  • Law and Vulnerabilities

Publishing year

2023-10

Language

English

Pages

251-263

Publication/Series

Festskrift till Elisabeth Rynning: Integritet och rättssäkerhet inom och bortom den medicinska rätten

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Iustus förlag

Topic

  • Law

Keywords

  • Preparedness
  • Infection disease
  • Constitutional law
  • Bodily interventions
  • IHR
  • Infection disease control
  • Use of force
  • Privacy
  • Human rights
  • Limitations of rights
  • Medical law
  • Medicinsk rätt
  • Mänskliga rättigheter

Status

Published

Project

  • Improved preparedness for future pandemics and other health crises through large-scale disease surveillance

Research group

  • Public Law
  • Health Law
  • Norma Research Programme
  • Human Rights Law
  • Public International Law
  • Law and Vulnerabilities

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 9789177372356