Checks and Balances in Times of Pandemics: The Portuguese Example

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present a brief overview about the measures adopted in Portugal in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. This public health crisis gave room in two separate occasions for the declaration of a state of emergency. What is interesting, though, is that it can be argued that a real state of exception occurred not when the state of emergency was in force, but precisely when it was not. This has only been possible because the Government decided to adopt measures that would restrict fundamental rights, because the Parliament did not intervene in such a proceeding, and because the Administrative Supreme Court was arguably too lenient towards the Government. For a while at least, it seems to have occurred a ‘provisional abolition of the distinction among legislative, executive and judicial powers’ (Agamben, 2005). This has been confirmed by subsequent decisions from the Constitutional Court.

Citation

Ribeiro, J.C. (2024), "Checks and Balances in Times of Pandemics: The Portuguese Example", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Reconceptualizing State of Exception: European Lessons from the Pandemic (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 90), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-433720240000090004