Student association Astrea got to work on that question in collaboration with a multidisciplinary panel of scientists from Erasmus School of Law during the symposium on Emergency Law. The students learned about the legal response to an emergency, focusing on critical reflection of the matter. The corona crisis has shown that some fields, like employment law, require emergency legislation to cope with crises. Other fields have found to be able to handle the crisis based on existing rules (such as liability and contract law).
After all, is law our rock in troubled times, or does everything crack under pressure? During the symposium, the principles of Emergency Law were discussed, based on three corona related topics and within the context of Private Law, State Law, Administrative Law and Criminal Law.
Working from home and consequences for companies and organisations
Due to the COVID pandemic, working from home has become the norm. The business community is supported with unprecedented support packages, the openness of court hearings is under pressure and contracts are broken based on contractual force majeure and unforeseen circumstances. Harriët Schelhaas (professor of Private Law), Ruben Houweling (professor of Employment Law) and Toon van Mierlo (professor of Private Law) provided the necessary clarification on these complex subjects. Contract law remains flexible and offers room to cope with a crisis within its’ traditional boundaries, however employment law and procedural law require additional legislation.
Forced vaccination and quarantine
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, society has been looking forward to the introduction of vaccinations as an escape from the current crisis. But how does the law deal with this matter? Can an employer force its employees to get a vaccine? Can vaccinated individuals receive privileges from the government? What if the vaccines turn out to be no good? These questions, and the matter of how quarantine obligations relate to fundamental rights in the Netherlands, were discussed. An explanation was provided by Harriët Schelhaas, Ruben Houweling, Lianne van Kalken (lecturer Constitutional and Administrative Law) and Siewert Lindenbergh (professor of Private Law). The flexibility of contract law proved to be the solution to private law-related corona issues. The discussion resulted in just one significant limitation: a vaccination obligation cannot be imposed, but private parties may provide more privileges to vaccinated individuals, like access to a football match or festival.
Restrictive (corona) measures and enforcement
Only a year ago, mandatory facemasks, a curfew, the global travel restrictions and the catering industry's mandatory closure were measures that many Dutch people would have deemed inconceivable. In the meantime, however, many Dutch people have become all too aware of the implications of these measures. But what is the legal basis for these measures? How should we interpret the administrative and criminal enforcement of these measures? Joke de Wit (associate professor of Administrative Law), Paul Mevis (professor of Criminal Law) and Lianne van Kalken supported the students by interpreting these themes. A legal basis can be found for many of the restrictive (corona)measures: for the (intended) quarantine obligation there is the Public Health Act and for the curfew the Extraordinary Powers of Civil Authority Act. But can these laws be used as a legal basis for the measures? Opinions seem divided, making it a very interesting topic.
Acknowledgement
The symposium was a great success. The organisation, led by Donna de Korte and Thomas van Mourik from Astrea, wants to thank all the involved researchers for their enthusiastic participation.
- More information
Click here for more information about study association Astrea (Dutch).
