Legal Reactions to Covid-19 in Western European Democracies (translated into Japanese: 西欧民主主義国家における _COVID-19 に対する法的反応： _比較分析)

This work addresses the legal reactions of several Western European democracies to COVID-19, aiming to provide some recommendations and suggest potential changes to improve legal emergency frameworks, making them suitable to face “global” emergencies. The research has three main parts. First, it offers an overview of whether and how the constitutions of selected Western European countries regulate emergency, so as to attempt a “categorisation” of emergency powers (“emergency models”). Second, the analysis considers whether (or not) these “emergency models” have been applied in the fight against Covid-19 by selected countries of Europe. In doing so, it finds out that resort to emergency powers as they are written in constitutions has been uncommon, since many countries have preferred alternative strategies. These alternative strategies are explained and analysed. Lastly, the conclusions discuss this sort of “escape” from pre-existing emergency powers, try to grasp what has not worked well and how things could be improved, once this emergency is totally over, to be prepared for potential new ones.