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19 March 2020 / Michael L Nash
Issue: 7879 / Categories: Opinion , Covid-19
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Emergencies & extraordinary measures

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In a time of crisis what measures can the government introduce under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004? Michael Nash reports

Extraordinary situations require extraordinary measures: thus far good, and obvious. However, questions remain regarding how far the extraordinary measures should go, and how long they should remain in place. While health and welfare are uppermost in people’s minds, care should be taken to ensure the government response is proportionate to risk.

The current Act to deal with the current situation is the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. This Act repealed the Civil Defence Act 1948 and the Civil Defence (Northern Ireland) Act 1950. Part I establishes a new definition of ‘emergency’, which is broadly defined. The part applicable to the current situation concerns ‘events which threaten serious damage to human welfare in a place in the UK, or to the environment of a place in the UK’.

The leading commentators on the Act, Chris Walker and Jim Broderick, in their book, The Civil Contingencies Act 2004: Resilience and the Law in the United

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