Administrative police activities for the protection of public health and fundamental rights and freedoms

Administrative police activities carried out by the administration for public health purposes often conflict with fundamental rights and freedoms. Determining in which legal framework and principles can be resolved this conflict is important for effective protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. How the administrative police activities for public health purposes and fundamental rights and freedoms mutually restrict each other is examined in two parts. The nature of the concept of public health and the approach of the Constitutional Court, the Council of State and the European Court of Human Rights to this concept is discussed. Fundamental rights and freedoms restricted for public health purposes are examined through examples of legislation that restrict them. The principles of legality and proportionality are examined in the context of restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms. Following the constitutional amendments of 2001, the problems caused by Article 13 of the Constitution, which do not contain general reasons for restriction, and the proposed solutions in the doctrine are examined. Since one of the general restriction reasons that is removed was public health, this issue is particularly emphasized. Discussions on compulsory vaccination and the regulation of the subject in comparative law, especially in the United States of America, are examined; inferences are made which might be useful for Turkey. The problems of the Public Health Law (no. 1593) are addressed and it is determined that there is a need for a change in the law on administrative police activities for the purposes of public health (especially compulsory vaccination).