Ordinary and Extraordinary Limitations on Human Rights Introduced to Tackle CBRN Threats

The present contribution intends to illustrate the extent to which human rights can be restricted to respond to CBRN threats and events, looking at both the preventive and reactive measures that States can introduce. The chapter will start by briefly illustrating the legal framework concerning ordinary limitations on the enjoyment of human rights, and then will use concrete examples taken from the practice of human rights courts and monitoring bodies to elucidate how these standards have been applied to CBRN threats and events (Section 2). The same methodology will be followed with respect to cases in which States have made use of derogation clauses to react to major CBRN events, hence introducing exceptional limitations that would otherwise be incompatible with conventional standards (Section 3). The chapter will end with a few general comments on the practice reviewed (Section 4).