The Constitutionality of Emergency Laws in Light of the Emerging Pandemic of the Coronavirus: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The state of emergency is considered a serious and threatening situation that threatens public order in the whole country or part of it due to internal or external war, natural disasters or the spread of a pandemic, and in this study, we will specialize in researching the declared state of emergency in both Palestine and China in light of the Corona pandemic, Whereas, of course, the idea of ​​the emergency law stems from the theories in constitutional law and the fact that many countries treat the state of emergency as a constitutional right granted to the executive in the form of a fortified constitutional decision.To declare a state of emergency, there are some important conditions. It is not permissible to declare a state of emergency without the availability of one of them, which involves the presence of a threat to the public order, The measures taken must be commensurate with the size of the risk, provided that the decree declaring the state of emergency includes the temporal and spatial scale, otherwise the decree is not considered void.The Palestinian legal system was distinguished by a precise definition of the steps to take the state of emergency with the support of the Palestinian Public Health Law and the supporting laws necessary to deal with epidemics, while the Chinese law was characterized by the existence of provisions in the constitutional law as well, but they were broad terms that needed more specificity regard to the competent authorities to extend The state of emergency and the percentage required to pass the decision to extend the state of emergency and other things were indicated in the study.This study also dealt with talk about the field effects on the executive authority, the legislature, and the judiciary in the event of an emergency, as this study examined the legal nature of the emergency law how to deal with both the Palestinian and Chinese legal systems and the extent to which the emergency law can be abolished if it is found not necessary.

Keywords: Constitutional Law, Administrative law, Palestinian Basic Law 2003, Chinese Constitution 1982, Public Health Law, Emergency Law, Martial Provisions, Coronavirus pandemic.

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/102-03

Publication date:October 31^st 2020