Bulkan warns against normalising of exceptional powers under region’s COVID-19 measures

Dr. Arif Bulkan

While admitting the need for urgent and comprehensive action to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyanese jurist Dr. Arif Bulkan has said there are potential risks posed by the emergency measures being implemented in the region.

Bulkan made the observation recently during a presentation as part of a Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica virtual forum on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of public and private law.

Speaking on human rights concerns which he says arise in relation to COVID-19 in the Southern Caribbean, particularly Trinidad and Guyana, Bulkan noted that there are controversies which have taken centre-stage regarding restrictions that have been implemented and which he said impact both socio-economic and civil and political rights.