Legal summary

January 2023

Pešić and Others v. Serbia (communicated case) - 48973/20, 54565/20 and 54676/20

Article 2 of Protocol No. 4

Article 2 para. 1 of Protocol No. 4

Freedom of movement

Covid-19 related restrictions on movement of elderly persons: communicated

Article 14

Discrimination

Covid-19 related restrictions on movement of elderly persons : communicated

The applications concern Covid-19 related restrictions adopted by the Serbian authorities in the context of the first lockdown of 2020, after they declared a state of emergency (between 15 March and 6 May 2020) and sent a notice of derogation from the Convention which had been received by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, as stipulated under Article 15 of the Convention.

In particular, through successive bylaws, a set of extraordinary measures were introduced temporarily restricting the freedom of movement of the population. In respect of a particular category of elderly persons over 65 and 70 years, in the urban and rural arears, respectively, of which the applicants belonged, the following restrictions were introduced:

- An initial 24-hour ban on movement lasting four days.

- As of 21 March 2020, for 30 days, only being allowed to leave their homes for 1 hour a week on a specific day, in the early morning hours (from 3 to 8 am and subsequently from 4 to 7 am), to buy groceries.

- Subsequently, only being allowed to for 30 minutes, between 6 pm and 1 am, three times a week, on particular days, for a walk within a radius of 600 m from their domicile.

- As of 25 April 2020, only being allowed to spend an hour outdoors every day within the same radius.

Any non-compliance with the regulations was a criminal offence which could lead to a fine or imprisonment. In the meantime, the rest of the population was in lockdown in the night, on weekends and/or during holidays, save in exceptional circumstances and with the authorisation provided by the competent authorities.

The applicants, as they were affected by the measures, unsuccessfully sought to constitutionally appeal them.

Communicated under Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 alone and in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention and Article 13 of the Convention, with questions regarding the application of Article 15 of the Convention.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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