Beware of Procedural Perils

Article

Beware of Procedural Perils

14.04.2021

Pedro Villarreal

The global political momentum created by the COVID-19 pandemic recently led to a joint statement on 30 March 2021, signed by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Director-General and twenty-seven heads...

Media

Public International Law and Pandemics: COVID-19 as a Watershed?

10.02.2021

Pedro Villarreal

One year into the pandemic, Dr. Pedro A. Villarreal is taking stock of the International Law on global health. He focuses on the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR) of the...

Article

The governance of disease outbreaks in international health law

14.07.2020

Pedro Villarreal Leonie Vierck Katarina Weilert

In the first part of this two-part post, we broadly addressed the legal framework provided by the International Health Regulations (IHR), a binding legal instrument within the aegis of the...

Article

The governance of disease outbreaks in international health law

13.07.2020

Pedro Villarreal Leonie Vierck Katarina Weilert

A deadly virus starts spreading in several communities. Reports are issued warning of the potential fallout if no action is taken. Yet both national authorities, as well as the WHO,...

Article

Is the spread of Coronavirus already a pandemic?

09.03.2020

Pedro Villarreal

On 26 February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the current spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) “has pandemic potential”. That is, despite the fact...

Article

The 2019-2020 novel coronavirus outbreak and the importance of good faith for international law

28.01.2020

Pedro Villarreal

The 2019-2020 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak first identified in Wuhan, China currently stands at the center of the international community’s focus. The World Health Organization (WHO) issues daily situation reports...

Article

The direct justiciability of the right to health at the IACtHR

22.10.2018

Pedro Villarreal

In a previous post, Lucas Sánchez discussed how the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) recently found, for the first time, a direct violation of the right to health in...

Article

Stretching abstract reasoning to its limits

06.04.2018

Pedro Villarreal

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued the Advisory Opinion (AO) of 15 November, 2017 (OC-23/17), on the subject matter of the environment and human rights. Its wide-ranging features already...

Symposium
International Health Governance

The WHO’s institutional and legal role in communicable disease epidemics

25.04.2016

Pedro Villarreal

On 1 February, 2016, the World Health Organization´s (WHO) Director-General declared that the Zika virus epidemic in the Americas is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The illness...

Article

Reforms of the World Health Organization in light of the Ebola crisis in West Africa

26.08.2015

Pedro Villarreal

The 68th World Health Assembly took place from 18 to 26 May, 2015. The Assembly is the maximum decision-making organ of the World Health Organization (WHO). In this forum, there...