Global Pandemic and the Role of Courts

Abstract

While policy makers, legislators and scientists have been in the front line in designing the institutional and regulatory framework of the preparedness strategy, the role of courts has soon emerged as a key component of the institutional response to the challenges brought by the current pandemic. Not only courts have overseen statutory legislation and administrative acts, in order to assess their conformity with constitutional norms and the rule of law; but, on a more substantive level, courts have also been custodians of fundamental rights, ensuring the right balance between conflicting ones.

This paper is intended to address a possible need for inter-institutional cooperation and to establish an ideal dialogue among courts and policy makers of different world regions, facing comparable issues in the context of the current pandemic.

Legal changes have occurred within legislation, administration, and litigation, both at national and international levels. Are these changes permanent or temporary? Will they dissolve with the end of this pandemic or will the necessity to organize appropriate institutional global answers to similar phenomena generate long term changes, including a new role for global judicial cooperation? We predict that rules will be modified but the new principles or the new version of consolidated principles will stay.

Keywords: COVID-19, fundamental rights, judicial protection, rule of law

JEL Classification: K10, K41, K42