LS 410Law and Emergency Governance

Most western states have some form of emergency power that allows governments to suspend normal democratic processes and protections to decisively confront an emergency crisis or condition. The course will examine the origins of emergency law in western jurisprudence and the range of forms that emergency powers can take. Through an examination of specific case studies in which emergency laws have been invoked, students will develop an in-depth understanding of the tensions between emergency law and core principles of liberal democracies as well as apply socio-legal reasoning to how such tensions may be revolved.