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

• 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Ordinance (2023:2) was temporary and lasted from 7 January until 19 February 2023.Although the Ordinance is no longer in force, the fact of its enaction raises several public law concerns.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.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

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

Publikations- och innehållstyp

kap (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)