COVID-19 Salgını ve Bulaşıcı Hastalıkların Yarattığı Küresel Krizlerle Mücadelede Uluslararası Hukuk

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in late 2019, continues to unsettle the entire world. Along with the losses of many lives, the pandemic caused maybe one of the most devastating damage in the last century on many fields such as healthcare, economy, trade, and tourism. The rapid contagion of the pandemic has brought into question the roles of the international institutions, primarily the World Health Organization (WHO), which are expected to build a ground for the global cooperation and coordination. The purpose of this article is to provide an assessment of the institutional mechanisms and instruments in international law for combatting the global crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and infectious diseases. In the first chapter, WHO’s structure and regulations are explained, and particularly the International Health Regulations (2005) are examined in detail. In the second chapter, the functionality of the WHO system during the COVID-19 pandemic is evaluated, and some solutions for the current deficiencies of the system are proposed. In the final chapter, the direct relation between the global crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and infectious diseases and the roles played by global governance systems in the fields of international human rights law, international trade law, and international collective security system are examined. In conclusion of this article, the significance of international law for effectively solving global problems such as pandemics is emphasized.