Ensuring a balance of interests in disputes regarding the mandatory vaccination

Abstract

The establishment of compulsory preventive vaccinations raises a problem of balance with the right to personal integrity and the need to consent to medical intervention. The severity of this problem is added by the established restrictions on the implementation of individual rights of citizens, for example, the right to preschool and school education. The purpose of this article is to concretize the criteria for assessing the balance of interests in disputes regarding the mandatory vaccination. The study concluded that the provisions of the law on compulsory preventive vaccinations indicate an excess of public interest over private interests of individuals. The analysis of legislative norms on the issuance of a certificate, which is necessary for admission to preschool and school education, is carried out.Based on, conclusions were drawn about its content, the dependence of its issuance on the availability of all mandatory preventive vaccinations, the distribution of duties of a doctor and a healthcare institution lackingall such vaccinations. It is argued that when a court is considering cases, the balance between the private interest of a particular person and the public interest in health protection is assessed through the legality and proportionality of interference with human rights. Based on the analysis of a number of court decisions, it was concluded that the proportionality of the intervention is achieved if the state: a) has given the right to choose a person (including the child's parents) to carry out mandatory preventive vaccinations or not; b) created equal conditions for children to receive, regardless of whether or not they have compulsory vaccination of school education; c) provides guarantees of vaccine safety for mandatory vaccinations. It is substantiated that the balance of interests will also be observed if a person can exercise the right to compensation for harm in court if the preventive vaccination entailed harm to health or was carried out without the consent of the person (legal representative in cases provided for by law), or using a low-quality, inadmissible for use in accordance with the procedure established by law, vaccines. Keywords: medical intervention, the right to personal integrity, compulsory preventive vaccinations, the right to education, proportionality of interference with human rights, balance of interests, criteria for assessing the balance of interests.