I Book Review: Law in Times of Crisis. Emergency Powers in Theory and Practice
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934410802600214 |
| Published date | 01 June 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Part D: DocumentationI Book Review |
Documentation
298 Intersentia
systems is incompatible with the role of the State as the guarantor of indiv idual rights
and freedoms. It seems more usef ul to pursue other areas of semi-autonomous elds,
and indeed, many contributions of this volume add ress a number of such areas. A n
example is Ali ’s discussion of dialogue, another de Gaay Fortman’s exploration of
ways to facilitate changes from within in instances where cultural and religious ru les
clash with human r ights (p. 248 ).
Putting together the book, the editors have aspired, not to oer conclusions, but
to inspire to further research (p. 329). is goal has been fully achieved with this
excellent and wide-ra nging book, which furthermore demonstrates an i ntellectual
vivacity, which wil l serve future research on this cha llenging subject well.
Oren Gros s and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, L aw in Times of Crisis. Emergency Powers
in eory and Practice, C ambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York, 20 06,
xxix + 481 pp., ISBN: 0–521–54123–7*
Although it may b e completely unscholarly to say so: it is not oen that I read a legal
book from cover to cover. In the case of Law in Times of Crisis I did, and with pleasure.
Not only because the subject of this study interests me very much and is close to my
own research, but also because Gross and Ní Aoláin have written a rema rkable book.
e book presents a systematic and comprehensive attempt to conceptualise the theory
of emergency powers, combining recent developments with more general t heoretical,
historical and comparative perspec tives. e authors analyse, discuss and criticise
several legal models that have been developed to deal with crisis situations. But unlike
many others they do not stop there. e y also try to develop a new approach – a
theoretical model – as fa r as the regulation of emergency situations is concerned.
e relevance of the book is obvious. e terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and
the ensuing ‘war on terror’ have focused attention on issues that have previously lurked
in a dark corner at the edge of the legal universe. e question how a democratic regime
should respond to violent challenges – b oth from the perspective of eectivenes s and
decisiveness and of rule of law, legitimacy and legality – is a current one, but certainly
not a new one. However, it is a dicult and importa nt one, as legal philosopher Ca rl
Friedrich indicated in h is classic work Constitutional Reason of State:
How are we to get eect ive, vigorous governmental ac tion, and yet limit t he power
of govern mental bodie s so as to forestall the rise of a despotic concentration of power?
Logical ly it is a paradox, but practical ly it has been done. e task requ ires all the wisdom
man can muster. e priz e is his greatest achievement: fre edom.1
* Jan-Peter Loof, Depa rtment of Public Law, Leiden Univer sity, Leiden, the Netherla nds.
1 Friedrich, Ca rl, Constitutional R eason of State, Brown Univer sity Press, Providence , 1957.
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