A quick thread about the legal issues surrounding the imposition of a “quarantine at a hotel” requirement for international travellers. These are initial thoughts: would welcome thoughts and contributions! NB I’m thinking about 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 only but this probably applies equally to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿.

The basic power is in section 45B of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.
Subsection (2)(b) refers to the “detention, isolation, or quarantine of persons”.
So the legal basis looks clear. But regulations will also have to meet requirements of rationality. And since detaining people in a hotel room engages fundamental human rights (Article 5 of the ECHR), HRA tests of proportionality are in play too.
Though NB that Art 5(3)(e) ECHR expressly contemplates lawful detention for the prevention of the spreading of infectious disease.
A couple of issues strike me.
First, the government will need a robust case to explain why isolation at home (eg using apps, geolocation, or even tracking bracelets) is not an acceptable alternative.
There has been some suggestion that the legal powers don’t exist to permit that: but I have to say that I don’t immediately see why it doesn’t fit under (2)(b) - at least as a set of conditions compliance with which are an exception from the requirement to quarantine at a hotel.
(Eg, quarantine in a hotel unless you download the app/keep your phone on and with you at all times/wear a tag).
Another set of issues surrounds this point, from https://t.co/koelqtZELg
As I understand it, the requirement won’t be imposed on eg road hauliers (because our supply chain would collapse if it did). And what about ministers and foreign dignitaries (the G7 is in the UK in June)? But then the logic of the Whitehall official kicks in.
To adopt a metaphor, a requirement to make people stick their fingers in a hole in the dyke and stand there for 2 weeks looks questionable if water is flowing unchecked through another hole in the dyke.
There may be answers to that but they need to be articulated and thought through.
Another issue: Ireland. See earlier short thread. https://t.co/9Rfam0BG0S https://t.co/EV5NCLuDdu
If NI is not being treated as “abroad” for quarantine purposes, what is being done to coordinate quarantine rules with the Irish Government?
Written before I saw this thread: but note the overlap here between the legal issues and the practical issues. https://t.co/OjoZQeYLsE
To put the point shortly: if a : detention in hotel policy is backed by reasoning to show why nothing less intrusive will work, and if it is more than a “something must be done” gesture made pointless because of exceptions, it will probably be legally secure. But those are “ifs”.

More from Legal

LATEST:

#BLM & Movement for Black Lives are promoting a 128 page bill that brings their radical protest demands into political reality.

The bill eliminates DoD ops, stops counter-terrorism programs, offers social services to illegal immigrants, &

Due to the exorbitant length of the bill (it's 128 pages) I have to explain the specifics of the BREATEHE act in sections. This article only includes the first section of the bill, which is pages 1-10.

You can find the full bill here:
https://t.co/3WgchuFqXf


In the first 10 pages, the BREATHE Act moves to:

1. Repeal federal funding for local law enforcement.

The first two pages alone "abolishes" the D.E.A. and removes local law enforcement's ability to access federal funding for bulletproof vests.


2. Eliminate Department of Homeland Security (@DHSgov) programs, including ICE and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs.


The specific programs that they move to abolish include:

ICE

Border Enforcement Security program

Countering Violent Extremism program

Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Denaturalization Program
Without jumping to conclusions, this is a strange coincident. Is someone trying to kill two birds with one stone?


If you don't get caught up in the noise of the media, you'll notice a few more things. The far-right Oath Keepers has been patrolling major cities with heavy weapons for weeks. They were present in numbers at the Capitol, but without weapons.


https://t.co/t7M1svIIMe


You find photos of the arrested vandals but strangely enough not of the one 70-year-old who allegedly had a truck full of weapons. And at least I couldn't find an image of that truck. But the old man was apparently very talkative to the police.


The most questionable aspect, however, is the FBI's search for a person who was apparently caught on a surveillance camera the previous night.
At that time, it was possible to predict a mass gathering, but not the riot.
At the root of my work is safeguarding human life. I support a massive buildout of public transit because it makes life fundamentally better, reduces greenhouse emissions, and saves lives. 1/

In the United States, car accidents are one of the leading causes of death and injury for children under the age of 18.
https://t.co/RrYVtaoFRd 2/

A few years ago my family and I were driving from visiting relatives in Texas when we were stuck in traffic on the I-10. We were at a complete dead stop when a woman (texting) in a Suburban hit us at 70 mph. She crushed the back of our car like a soda can. 3/


Thankfully, our two-year-old was in a good carseat and I absorbed the brunt of the injuries with a few shards of glass in my scalp. I won't show those pictures! While a high speed rail network along the Gulf Coast may have not prevented that accident, it could prevent most. 4/

Electrifying household appliances will reduce our 'dependence' on natural gas and transmission methane leaks, but the switch will also cut the number of carbon monoxide poisonings and natural gas related explosions that kill Americans everyday. 5/

You May Also Like