Filenews 27 April 2021 - by Evangelia Sizopoulou
A lawsuit against the State and the Ministers of Health and Education concerning the adoption and implementation of the Decrees concerning the weekly compulsory rapid test examination of secondary school pupils, as well as the compulsory use of the mask in schools, registered 67 parents. At the same time, they call for the suspension of the relevant Orders until the action is heard.
As the parents' lawyer, Yannos Georgiadis, told "F", the Court set the case for a hearing on Tuesday 4 May, giving those involved the opportunity to present their positions. According to Mr Georgiadis, the State through the Attorney General and the two ministers have one week to prepare and submit their positions on the matter. The parents' lawyer says the Decrees issued by the Minister of Health under Section 6 of the Infectious Cleansing Act are illegal. This, as he explains, because under this article, the Council of Ministers may adopt Regulations and not Decrees. "Also any Regulations issued through the above law must be submitted to the House of Representatives on the basis of an article and in order to apply they must be approved."
Mr. Georgiadis added that the only other case where the executive could issue decrees restrictive of individual rights protected by the Constitution is under Article 183 of the Constitution by declaring the state a state of emergency, which was not done. In order for the state to be declared a state of emergency, it must be approved by the House and its duration is only two months. After two months it can only be extended with the approval of the House. As Mr Georgiadis said, it is clear that there is a manifest illegality.
The protesting parents stress that their children's rights are directly affected in violation of Article 7 on interference with individual integrity and Article 20 on the right to education, while pointing out that the restrictive measures are contrary to relevant international conventions on the protection of the child and human rights in relation to biomedical matters. At the same time, they say that "there is a great risk that the maintenance of illegal Orders will cause irreparable damage both to children's mental health and to their smooth uninterrupted education at a critical time when they will have to sit important tests from which their future is judged."
