COVID-19 School Closures and the Principles of Proportionality and Balancing

Aardt, Willem van

Even though COVID-19 has an extremely low crude mortality rate among children, drastic measures to combat the disease significantly infringed the fundamental human rights of millions of children to education and protection. This article examines whether COVID-19-related school closures and the suspension of necessary measures of protection for special needs and vulnerable children were justifiable derogations from covenant obligations and international human rights law. The researcher assessed relevant treaty and covenant obligations of state parties and affirms what international human rights law determines regarding the justifiable limitation of human rights. The article centers on whether the regulations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are inter alia legitimate, adequate, necessary and proportionate stricto sensu . It argues that the limitation of fundamental human rights must achieve benefits that are proportional to the cost of the limitation, and that the infringement will not be considered proportional if there are less restrictive but equally effective means to achieve the same purpose. Ultimately, it highlights that education and the necessary measures of protection for all children – but specifically those children with special needs and children belonging to vulnerable groups – should be one of the highest priorities in any national strategy to reopen society.