07 Oct Obligation to wear a mask as a measure against Covid-19: application inadmissible

In the case of Makovetskyy v. Ukraine (application no. 50824/21, 15.09.2022) the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the application inadmissible. 

The case concerned administrative-offence proceedings against Mr Makovetskyy for refusal to wear a mask in a supermarket, although doing so had been compulsory as part of measures to restrict the spread of the disease Covid-19. The applicant was fined 170 Ukrainian hryvnias (about 4.90 euros) for breach of Covid-19 regulations. Relying on Articles 6 (right to a fair trial) and 7 (no punishment without law), Mr Makovetskyy complained that the courts’ decisions had been arbitrary, that the police officer had not been a “tribunal established by law”.

The Court was prepared to allow that the applicant may have suffered a “significant disadvantage” on principle despite the relatively low level of the fine. It reiterated that it was not a court of fourth instance that would re-examine the decisions of the domestic courts.

Concerning Article 6, the Court found that there was nothing to indicate that the domestic courts had acted in an arbitrary manner. The applicant’s arguments concerning the lawfulness of the restrictions had been examined and dismissed. With regard to the fine having been issued by a police officer, it reiterated that in accordance with its case-law administrative bodies issuing fines can be compliant with the Convention provided that they are “subject to subsequent control by a judicial body that has full jurisdiction and does provide the guarantees of Article 6 § 1”. That was the case in this instance. It thus rejected these arguments as manifestly ill-founded.

With regard to Article 7, the Court noted that the fine had been negligible, and failure to pay could not lead to deprivation of liberty. There had been no “criminal charge”. It determined, therefore, that Article 7 was not applicable to the applicant’s situation and rejected this part of the application too.

Reference from the official website of the European Court of Human Rights