Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia, No. U.br.30/2014, 8 October 2014

Compulsory vaccination against some pediatric diseases. Right to health as a collective public interest. Refusal to vaccinate. 

Art. 39 Const. 
Art. 42 Const. 

1. A refusal of a vaccination by the parents not only endangered the health of their children, but also the health of other persons who had not been vaccinated on account of medical contraindications, and it thus denied them the right to a healthy life.

2. In order to safeguard the health of the child and the child’s right to health, which was subject to a special level of protection, it was justified to deny the parents’ freedom to refuse vaccination, since the right of the child to health prevailed over the parents’ right to choose.

3. There was no obstacle for the legislature to make enrolment in primary school dependant on the parents’ submitting proof of vaccination of the child. Parents who refused to vaccinate their children were to be reminded that other parents also had the right to protection from serious illness in respect of their children, and that unvaccinated children posed a greater risk of spreading the disease, especially in child-care facilities, schools and other educational establishments.