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(e)
No declaration of a state of emergency made pursuant to article 4, paragraph 1,
may be invoked as justification for a State party to engage itself, contrary to article 20, in
propaganda for war, or in advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that would constitute
incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.
14.
Article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant requires a State party to the Covenant to provide
remedies for any violation of the provisions of the Covenant. This clause is not mentioned in the
list of non-derogable provisions in article 4, paragraph 2, but it constitutes a treaty obligation
inherent in the Covenant as a whole. Even if a State party, during a state of emergency, and to
the extent that such measures are strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, may
introduce adjustments to the practical functioning of its procedures governing judicial or other
remedies, the State party must comply with the fundamental obligation, under article 2,
paragraph 3, of the Covenant to provide a remedy that is effective.
15.
It is inherent in the protection of rights explicitly recognized as non-derogable in
article 4, paragraph 2, that they must be secured by procedural guarantees, including, often,
judicial guarantees. The provisions of the Covenant relating to procedural safeguards may never
be made subject to measures that would circumvent the protection of non-derogable rights.
Article 4 may not be resorted to in a way that would result in derogation from non-derogable
rights. Thus, for example, as article 6 of the Covenant is non-derogable in its entirety, any trial
leading to the imposition of the death penalty during a state of emergency must conform to the
provisions of the Covenant, including all the requirements of articles 14 and 15.
16.
Safeguards related to derogation, as embodied in article 4 of the Covenant, are based on
the principles of legality and the rule of law inherent in the Covenant as a whole. As certain
elements of the right to a fair trial are explicitly guaranteed under international humanitarian law
during armed conflict, the Committee finds no justification for derogation from these guarantees
during other emergency situations. The Committee is of the opinion that the principles of
legality and the rule of law require that fundamental requirements of fair trial must be respected
during a state of emergency. Only a court of law may try and convict a person for a criminal
offence. The presumption of innocence must be respected. In order to protect non-derogable
rights, the right to take proceedings before a court to enable the court to decide without delay on
the lawfulness of detention, must not be diminished by a State party’s decision to derogate from
the Covenant.9
17.
In paragraph 3 of article 4, States parties, when they resort to their power of derogation
under article 4, commit themselves to a regime of international notification. A State party
availing itself of the right of derogation must immediately inform the other States parties,
through the United Nations Secretary-General, of the provisions it has derogated from and of the
reasons for such measures. Such notification is essential not only for the discharge of the
Committee’s functions, in particular in assessing whether the measures taken by the State party
were strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, but also to permit other States parties to
monitor compliance with the provisions of the Covenant. In view of the summary character of
many of the notifications received in the past, the Committee emphasizes that the notification by
States parties should include full information about the measures taken and a clear explanation of
the reasons for them, with full documentation attached regarding their law. Additional
notifications are required if the State party subsequently takes further measures under article 4,