The judicialization of health and the intensification of the Judiciary´s performance during the confrontation of Coronavirus Pandemic was the main subject discussed during the Second Panel of the XI International Congress on Human Rights, promoted by the School of Judges of Tocantins (ESMAT), in partnership with the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT)
With the title Human Rights and Health: a critical reading of judicial action during the Pandemic, the Second Interdisciplinary Panel brought together authorities, such as: a master public defender and researcher in Human Rights; a professor of psychology; and a magistrate who coordinates the Health Action Monitoring Committee in the State. Among the topics addressed, the challenges faced by users of the Unified Health System (SUS) due to the lack of inputs; availability of necessary equipments; assistance and hospital beds, aggravated by the arrival of the global pandemic caused by Covid, which in Brazil has already caused more than 50 thousand deaths.
Also as a topic of explanation, the need for judicialization to guarantee the preservation of life at risk due to the new disease was added to the implementation of the Technical Support Nucleus of the Judiciary (NATJUS), which assists the magistrate through a digital platform to take decisions based on technical information and scientific evidence.
For the speaker Carlos Mendes Rosa, in view of the current global situation and on the national scene, the Executive’s actions interfering with resources and actions directed to Health, the role of the Judiciary is to guarantee the promotion of Human Rights in access to health. “It is extremely important that the Judiciary takes a position and that it is in favor of human rights and life”, he said.
The Public Defender Franciana di Fátima C. Costa said that, in Brazil, the access to health, despite being a basic and essential human right, is still restricted. “We understand that it is much more than medication or specific medical treatment. It is a healthy environment, an access to basic sanitation, treated water, safe air, healthy food, but we Brazilians, unfortunately, have our eyes focused on the minimum of the minimum, we can not look at the health issue according to WHO, because we are restricted to medicines, treatments, vacancies in ICU beds, that is, in the strictest possible sense”, he has stressed.
In her speech, Judge Milene de Carvalho Henrique, current coordinator of the Executive Committee for Monitoring Health Actions in the State of Tocantins (CEMAS), made a complete presentation of technical data regarding the progress of the pandemic in Tocantins, in the Country and in the rest of the planet. He discussed issues such as the acquisition of essential inputs and equipment to combat pandemic, but that the role of the Judiciary should focus on collective well-being. “There is no doubt that access to health is a fundamental social right found in the Constitution. It is directly linked to the major principle of the legal system, the right of the person to be directed to the human person, as long as he is not an individual, to watch over the collectivity, and not just one, under pain of hurting the principle of equality, which is constitutional. I am not against judicialization, I am against bad judicialization, I am in favor of rationalization, giving to those who need it, and not to those who come to justice first, because sometimes they get a good defender or a good lawyer and consequently, an injunction. I am not in favor of this bad judicialization and I make this very clear, because the Constitution, Law and Justice are for everyone. And it is done through public and economic policies”, he has stressed.
With the theme Fundamental Rights in Times of Pandemic - Scenarios and Perspectives -, the Event has the participation of renowned speakers, national and international, from countries such as Angola, France, Argentina, United States and Brazil, who will speak on important issues related to this moment, lived by people all over the world, and to the post-pandemic perspectives. The program will feature five more panels and will run until the next July 7th.
