Pandemics and emergency powers in Asia

Ramraj, V. V.; Thiruvengadam, A. K.

This chapter looks at emergency powers under Covid-19 in Asia. The ancient Roman model of dictatorship suggests that any legal framework for responding to an emergency has two components: dealing effectively with the threat and preventing abuse. How can these goals best be secured in a pandemic? Within the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, it become readily apparent that it posed two kinds of threat. First, it posed a mortal threat to individual and public health arising from a deadly virus that could be transmitted relatively easily through everyday social activities. Second, the efforts of governments to contain its spread inevitably led to a secondary danger as social and economic life was shuttered-the danger of social and political unrest. The chapter considers two dimensions of the governmental response: the formal legal structure under which that response operates and the dynamics of expertise, trust, and responsiveness to feedback that it potentially fosters-or inhibits. It argues that the goal of returning to normal is best served when these two dimensions-the legal framework and the expertise-feedback dynamic-are aligned to enable the society to respond effectively and fairly. © the several contributors 2021.