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23 Eur. J.L. Reform 147 (2021)
Approach with Caution: Sunset Clauses as Safeguards of Democracy?

handle is hein.journals/ejlr23 and id is 151 raw text is: ARTICLES Approach with Caution Sunset Clauses as Safeguards of Democracy? Sean Molloy* Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders across the globe scrambled to adopt emergency legislation. Amongst other things, these measures gave significant pow- ers to governments in order to curb the spreading of a virus, which has shown itself to be both indiscriminate and deadly. Nevertheless, exceptional measures, however necessary in the short term, can have adverse consequences both on the enjoyment of human rights specifically and democracy more generally. Not only are liberties severely restricted and normal processes of democratic deliberation and accountabil- ity constrained but the duration of exceptional powers is also often unclear. One po- tentially ameliorating measure is the use of sunset clauses: dispositions that deter- mine the expiry of a law or regulation within a predetermined period unless a review determines that there are reasons for extension. The article argues that without ef- fective review processes, far from safeguarding rights and limiting state power, sun- set clauses can be utilized to facilitate the transferring of emergency powers whilst failing to guarantee the very problems of normalized emergency they are included to prevent. Thus, sunset clauses and the review processes that attach to them should be approached with caution. Keywords: emergency legislation, sunset clauses, post-legislative review, COV- ID-19. A Introduction In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe scrambled to adopt emergency legislation in order to limit the impacts of the virus on their population. There were, however, differences in approach. Some, such as South Af- rica, Portugal, Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova and Romania, have de- * Dr Sean Molloy is a Lecturer in Law at Northumbria University. European Journal of Law Reform 2021 (23) 2 147 doi: 10.5553/EJLR/138723702021023002001

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