The current COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of economic and legal problems globally. For many centuries, pandemics have always been a global phenomenon known to humanity. Therefore, there were different mechanisms for the preparation and management of such problems at different points in history. However, after the momentum of globalization in the 19th century, international efforts against pandemics focused more on creating international institutions for such purpose. In these new institutions, one of the main issues was striking the balance between controlling the spread of the disease and keeping the international supply chain open. After the World War II, international institutional cooperation peaked. Such is brought about by the establishment of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), its specialized agency in the area of global health, in 1948.

WHO is endowed with typical international organs, such as the assembly as a decision making body, the executive board, the Director General, technical committees, and regional offices. Its mandate includes monitoring public health risks by promoting policies for eradicating communicable diseases and reducing noncommunicable ones, coordinating responses to emergencies and similar pandemics, and providing technical assistance to member states. It also provides a forum to adopt normative measures, such as treaties and regulations. The WHO plays a unique role in health emergencies. It is the organization that decides whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). However, this role is closely related with the member states’ duty to timely notify the organization of such risks and to provide all the detailed information they have. As one may infer, this relationship requires a lot of good-will and very tightly-scheduled cooperative work between the WHO and its member states. As such, the International Health Regulations (IHR) systematizes the procedure to follow by the Director General for declaring a PHEIC and the duties of the member states in this regard.

The IHR is an international legal instrument that binds all the member states for the prevention and response to public health risks that have the potential to cross borders. The initial versions of the IHR were adopted by the Assembly in 1951 and 1969. Such was later revised in 1973 and 2005. The IHR defines the rights and obligations of countries to report public health events. It likewise establishes a number of procedures that the WHO must follow in its work of upholding global health security. As pointed out before, a PHEIC is declared after taking into account the relevant factors regarding the gravity of the risk involved and the advice of the IHR Emergency Committee, an internationally committee of experts. After declaring a PHEIC, the Director General responds to the health emergency and begins to recommend to countries temporary measures for managing the risks. States would normally act upon such advice. However, these states may occasionally adopt stricter measures, if justified according to their special circumstances. Again, one of the main purposes of IHR procedures is to not only manage the risks involved, but also reduce the need for unnecessary controlling measures that negatively affect the global economy. Nevertheless, there were numerous inadequacies for facing future outbreaks. Such data arises from reports showing the results of IHR’s implementation on the ground.

The current COVID-19 pandemic was declared a PHEIC on January 30, 2020, after the Chinese had notified the world of such a new disease on December 31, 2019. However, despite reframing the situation as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the WHO never recommended any measures for the limitation of international trade or travel. The organization only provided measures for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation, and contact tracing. It also pointed out that travel measures that significantly interfered with international traffic needed to be short and proportionate to the public health risks. With the rapid spread of the disease globally and its increasing death toll, countries began to criticize China’s honesty in fulfilling its duties under the IHR. Countries likewise are now questioning the WHO’s ability to respond to the pandemic by pointing out the organization’s inadequacies in recommending proper measures. Some countries even accused the WHO for being biased toward China’s interests. All these criticisms and accusations generate many international law problems with respect to the responsibilities of states or international organizations and their possible avenues of redress. In terms of state responsibility, the main problems include the normative character of the IHR and the states’ obligations under it. Another possibility is the consideration of the states’ international obligations to prevent harmful activities against neighbors and to cooperate when such harm occurs naturally. As far as the WHO’s responsibility is concerned, it is possible to find some mechanisms within its internal laws for addressing the problems regarding the manner by which it functions. It may also be possible to fall back upon the draft articles on the responsibility of international organizations under the general international law.