Health emergency, Constitution, weak subjects: old and new rights to the test of the pandemic

ABSTRACT

The following contribution aims to deal with the delicate problem of the relationship between emergency and fundamental rights, with particular attention to vulnerable subjects – especially people with disabilities – in the prism of human dignity. Starting from a general premise, concerning the issue of the emergency – prodromal to a reconstruction of the impact of the pandemic on State-Regions relations, also in the light of sentence 37/2021 of the Constitutional Court, and on the exercise of fundamental rights, taking into account the restrictive measures taken and the introduction of the so-called Green Pass and of the compulsory vaccination – follows an examination of the principle of the person’s dignity as a "foundation of the constitutional foundations", necessary to specifically address, within the category of vulnerable people, the impact on the enjoyment of the rights of people with disabilities – with particular reference to right to education – and to (re)propose in a problematic way the question of the recognition of the right to Internet access, also analysed in a perspective of favor for the vulnerable people. The same general perspective, based on the recognition of the co-essential link between dignity and fundamental rights, both civil and social ones, allows us to introduce the theme of the relationship between the essential content of rights and essential levels of performance, clarifying the conceptual differences and offering considerations around the current issues affecting this theme. Finally – always electing the value of the dignity of the human person as the compass of the discussion – the examination focuses on the legal profiles of the "tragic choices" and the end-of-life of Covid patients, in order to configure – in the light of Articles 2-3-19-32 of the Constitution – a right to a dignified healthcare and a new “right to a dignified death” – with a different meaning from the common one – as a summary clause of the rights of the dying person. © 2022, Societa Editoriale Federalismi s.r.l.. All rights reserved.