030326 SE Comparative Emergency Measures against the Pandemic (2020W)

The pandemic has required exceptional measures to contain it. These have sometimes taken the form of explicit emergency legislation using special constitutional provisions, but also often taken rather mundane statutory or regulatory form.

In this seminar, we will compare the effectiveness of highly divergent political and legal systems to cope with the unprecedented challenge of the pandemic. A particular focus lies on the manner in which states have or have not relied on explicit emergency provisions and the likely long-term effects on their constitutional systems.

Students are expected to select one jurisdiction and to present the practical measures taken,
the legal basis for these, the nature of these legal measures, the likely impact on the respective constitutional systems, and the overall effectiveness of the country’s crisis management. The range of jurisdictions to be examined is deliberately wide and includes both liberal-democratic and authoritarian states.

At the preliminary meeting, students will be presented with a common structure to approach the problem and choose a jurisdiction from a list including – but not limited to – China, the United States, Russia, Iran, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, Indonesia, Turkey, etc.

The seminar will be held interactively and active participation is required. The approach is interdisciplinary and students should be prepared to combine doctrinal legal analysis with the requisite operational, sociological and economic insights.