As restrições à liberdade de culto no contexto da pandemia de Covid 19: uma análise comparativa

Abstract

With the covid 19 pandemic, several ethical and legal dilemmas were faced by society and, more specifically, by the courts. In this sense, the various norms restricting fundamental rights were the target of actions that aimed to determine their constitutionality or unconstitutionality. In Brazil, law 13.979 was responsible for establishing the necessary guidelines to be observed in the fight against the pandemic. Several articles of this law were the target of actions before the Supreme Court, which confirmed the constitutionality of the device, as well as pondered its limitations. During the pandemic period, one of the fundamental rights that was the target of restrictions was freedom of belief or religion. Due to the high rate of contamination, govern ments restricted and even suspended the operation of services and in-person rituals. These res trictions found, in Brazil, through ADPF 811, a solid understanding of the Supreme Court that demarcated the limits of restrictions on worship during the pandemic. At the international level, the constitutional debate regarding the constitutionality of rules that limited the freedom of worship was fruitful and, despite some isolated dissent, it moved towards a hermeneutic design based on two normative bases: the restriction should be limited in time and its effects should reach religions in an isonomic way.