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Positive Obligations as Coercive ‘Rights’ and Compulsory Vaccination under the European Convention on Human Rights

Stoyanova, Vladislava LU (2026) In International Journal of Constitutional Law
Abstract
This article assesses what is analytically at stake when individuals claim that their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights have been interfered with and the respondent State invokes compliance with positive human rights obligations as the aim pursued with the interference. These situations could be framed as manifesting a tension between negative and positive obligations. This is a framing that was accepted in the compulsory vaccination case of Vavřička and Others v the Czech Republic. By using the reasoning and the framing endorsed in this judgment, the article demonstrates that there were no positive obligations at stake. By accepting that there was a tension between obligations, the Court in this case allowed general... (More)
This article assesses what is analytically at stake when individuals claim that their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights have been interfered with and the respondent State invokes compliance with positive human rights obligations as the aim pursued with the interference. These situations could be framed as manifesting a tension between negative and positive obligations. This is a framing that was accepted in the compulsory vaccination case of Vavřička and Others v the Czech Republic. By using the reasoning and the framing endorsed in this judgment, the article demonstrates that there were no positive obligations at stake. By accepting that there was a tension between obligations, the Court in this case allowed general interests to operate under the façade of individual rights. While the State can and should protect general interests, such as public health, the coercive measures used in the pursuit of these interests are not commands that form the content of positive human right obligations.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
European convention on human rights, Positive obligations, Negative obligations, Vaccination, Folkrätt
in
International Journal of Constitutional Law
pages
31 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
ISSN
1474-2640
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
12306028-fedf-4687-b421-b03fb53affb7
date added to LUP
2025-06-10 14:19:55
date last changed
2025-06-10 14:33:52
@article{12306028-fedf-4687-b421-b03fb53affb7,
  abstract     = {{This article assesses what is analytically at stake when individuals claim that their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights have been interfered with and the respondent State invokes compliance with positive human rights obligations as the aim pursued with the interference. These situations could be framed as manifesting a tension between negative and positive obligations. This is a framing that was accepted in the compulsory vaccination case of Vavřička and Others v the Czech Republic. By using the reasoning and the framing endorsed in this judgment, the article demonstrates that there were no positive obligations at stake. By accepting that there was a tension between obligations, the Court in this case allowed general interests to operate under the façade of individual rights. While the State can and should protect general interests, such as public health, the coercive measures used in the pursuit of these interests are not commands that form the content of positive human right obligations.<br/><br/>}},
  author       = {{Stoyanova, Vladislava}},
  issn         = {{1474-2640}},
  keywords     = {{European convention on human rights; Positive obligations; Negative obligations; Vaccination; Folkrätt}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Constitutional Law}},
  title        = {{Positive Obligations as Coercive ‘Rights’ and Compulsory Vaccination under the European Convention on Human Rights}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/221102727/Article_Coercive_rights_revised_30_April_2025_submitted.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}