Control of roads: Government declares national road network in a state of emergency

This Thursday, April 7, the Government declared the national highway network in a state of emergency for 30 calendar days. During this period, the Peruvian National Police (PNP) will have control of internal order with the support of the Armed Forces.

The measure was formalized in Supreme Decree No. 035-2022-PCM, published in the Bulletin of Legal Standards of the Official Gazette El Peruano. The rule is signed by President Pedro Castillo, the head of the Ministerial Cabinet, Aníbal Torres, and the heads of Defense, the Interior and Justice and Human Rights.

The intervention of the PNP and the F.F.A.A. shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of legislative decrees 1186 and 1095, which regulate the use of force by both institutions. All actions indicated in the Supreme Decree will be financed from the institutional budget of the documents involved, in accordance with current regulations.

This occurs after the blockades on the roads of Ica, various sections of the Pan-American South. In these events, there was even one deceased, as a result of the confrontation between protesters and the police.

WHAT IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY?

This is a constitutional measure that can be decreed by the President of the Republic, with the agreement of the Council of Ministers, and only for a certain period of time. It can be applied for the entire national territory or only one sector.

The Constitution specifies that a state of emergency is declared when there is “disruption of peace or internal order, catastrophe or serious circumstances affecting the life of the nation”. Article 137 of the Constitution states that it cannot exceed 60 days and, if required, is extended by a new decree.

RIGHTS THAT ARE SUSPENDED

During this time, some constitutional rights are suspended:

Right to liberty: subjects of rights may engage in any kind of activity, which involves the exercise of other fundamental rights other than freedom, as long as they do not violate with it the norms that make up public order, good customs and those that are imperative in nature.

Inviolability of domicile: Rights subjects may prevent any other person from entering their home to carry out investigations, searches or other grounds if they do not authorize it or when third parties do not have a court order. They may not prevent it, however, in the event of a flagrante delicto or very serious danger of its perpetration.

Freedom of assembly: Subjects of rights may group, congregate or assemble, without prior notice, both in private places and open to the public as long as they do so peacefully. On the contrary, meetings in public places or roads require advance notice to the authority, which may prohibit them only for proven reasons of safety or public health.

Freedom of transit within the national territory: The subjects of rights, in principle, can move freely, within the national territory in which they have their domicile and also outside it, which implies being able to choose where to live. Except for health reasons or by court order or by application of the Aliens Act.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM INTERVENED?

The Supreme Decree provides details on the intervention of the Peruvian National Police and the Armed Forces: This intervention is carried out in accordance with Legislative Decree No. 1186, Legislative Decree regulating the use of force by the Peruvian National Police, and Legislative Decree No. 1095, Legislative Decree establishing rules for the use and use of force by the Armed Forces in the national territory and its Regulations, approved by Supreme Decree No. 003-2020-DE, respectively.

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