Public Health Crisis Management and Criminal Liability of Governments - A Comparative Study of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the rush to control COVID-19, the world''s governments rolled out a range of strategies: herd immunity, test and trace, lockdown. Each had a direct impact on the virus and the ensuing casualties. This book argues that given the significance of strategic failings in responding to the virus, criminal liability might well come into play. It suggests potential avenues for such liability, particularly for causing bodily harm and death. Meticulously charting the responses from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, North America and Latin America, it sets out each country''s response, infection rates and casualties. It then looks at the applicable criminal law and how acts or omissions might be analysed within that particular legal framework. Casting its net wider than purely legal considerations, the collection opens with an introduction from an epidemiologist, and economists comment on possible defenses. This book is vitally important, not only in allowing lessons to be learnt, but in setting benchmarks for evaluating governments'' responses to any such future crisis.>

Product details

• Authors: Michael Bohlander, Bohlander Michael, Gerhard Kemp, Mark Webster
• Assisted by: Michael Bohlander (Editor), Bohlander Michael (Editor), Gerhard Kemp (Editor), Kemp Gerhard (Editor), Mark Webster (Editor), Webster Mark (Editor)
• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.06.2023
• EAN: 9781509946310
• ISBN: 978-1-5099-4631-0
• No. of pages: 368
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > International law, foreign law; LAW / Criminal Law / General, LAW / International, LAW / Public, International Criminal Law, Public international law: criminal law