Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations Box 3.2: Non-derogable human rights Article 4(2) of the ICCPR Article 15(2) of the ECHR The right to life (Article 6). The right to life (Article 2), except in the case of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war. The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 7). The right not to be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 3). The right not to be held in slavery or servitude (Article 8). The right not to be held in slavery or servitude (Article 4(1)). The right not to be imprisoned for failure to perform a contractual obligation (Article 11). The right not to be subject to retroactive penal measures (Article 15). The right not to be punished by retroactive laws, i.e., for actions that were not in violation of criminal law when performed (Article 7). The right to recognition as a person before the law (Article 16). The freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief (Article 18). More detailed procedural stipulations concerning emergency situations have been made by the UN Human Rights Committee,54 as well as during meetings of internationally recognized legal experts.55 The circumstances in which non-absolute rights can be limited depend on the right in question. Qualified rights, such as right to private and family life, freedom to manifest your religion or belief, and freedom of expression can be limited even in normal times, since in their formulation they come with boundaries, subject to various conditions. The interference must be necessary, proportionate and have a legitimate aim, such as national security and the need to protect the rights of other people. Derogable rights are those from which derogations are allowed in the time of war or public emergency – any rights except the right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition of slavery and servitude, and no punishment without law.56 Therefore, derogable and qualified rights overlap to some extent. They are, however, distinct concepts with very different practical applications. It is only where the qualifications permissible to qualified rights are inadequate in an emergency situation that 54 UN Human Rights Committee, “CCPR General Comment No. 29: Article 4: Derogations during a State of Emergency”, 31 August 2001, UN Doc. CCPR/C/21/ Rev.1/Add.11, https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fd1f.html. 55 UN Commission on Human Rights, “The Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, 28 September 1984, E/CN.4/1985/4. See also: International Law Association, “Paris Minimum Standards of Human Rights Norms in a State of Emergency”, 1984, reprinted in American Journal of International Law, Vol. 79, 1985, p. 1072. 56 European Court of Human Rights, “Guide on Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights: Derogation in Time of Emergency”, 20 April 2019, Council of Europe https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/ Guide_Art_15_ENG.pdf Page 10 47