States of Emergency - Centre for Policy Alternatives

equires that States parties provide careful justiLication
not only for their decision to proclaim a state of
emergency but also for any speciLic measures based on
such a proclamation. If States purport to invoke the right
to derogate from the Covenant during, for instance, a
natural catastrophe, a mass demonstration including
instances of violence, or a major industrial accident, they
must be able to justify not only that such a situation
constitutes a threat to the life of the nation, but also that
all their measures derogating from the Covenant are
strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. In the
opinion of the Committee, the possibility of restricting
certain Covenant rights under the terms of, for instance,
freedom of movement (article 12) or freedom of assembly
(article 21) is generally sufLicient during such situations
and no derogation from the provisions in question would
be justiLied by the exigencies of the situation.” 260
4.3.6
The
Principle
of
Non‐Discrimination
The principle of non‐discrimination is the second substantive
condition required by the ICCPR to be satisLied for a valid
derogation to be made. While the principle itself is a value of much
broader application within the framework of human rights
protection envisaged by the ICCPR, it has a speciLic function in
respect of derogations and its limits must be clearly understood.
The scope of the non‐discrimination principle in the context of
Article 4 (1) is limited by two factors. Firstly, it prohibits
discrimination only on Live grounds (i.e., race, colour, sex,
260
para.5
166