The ELI Principles for the COVID-19 Crisis, particularly Principles 5 (Justice System) and 15 (Return to Normality), formed the basis of the discussion. Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson (Judge, Conseil d'Etat, France), Lord Jonathan Mance (former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, UK), Andreas Stöckli (Professor, University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Leah Wortham (Professor, The Catholic University of America, US), Michał Ziółkowski (Assistant Professor, Kozminski University, Poland) and Fryderyk Zoll (Chair, Member of the ELI Executive Committee, Professor at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and at Osnabrück University, Germany) discussed the French, Polish, Swiss and UK perspectives on the rule of law during and after the crisis. Among other things, the functioning of justice systems and parliaments during the crisis and their return to normality as well as the issue of judicial independence and the EU’s role in securing it were addressed. The challenges in Eastern Europe and Western jurisdictions were also discussed.
During the Q&A session with ELI Members, questions arose as to whether the COVID-19 crisis will impact the rule of law (fundamentally) in a longer-term and on the role of courts and lawyers in upholding the rule of law.
More information on previous and upcoming webinars for ELI Members is available here.
The PowerPoint presentation from the meeting is available here:
