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Student-led research analyses rule of law during COVID-19
Law students from three Australian universities have explored how a global pandemic has influenced the rule of law, from enforced lockdowns to Supreme Court battles.
Naomi Neilson
Twenty law students have launched a new project to analyse the law within the context of a global pandemic, investigating and writing about the way in which the coronavirus ripped through the world of law to dictate reforms and current social justice issues.
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The Australian National University (ANU)-based research and policy group Law Reform and Social Justice has examined a wide array of topics – from the border closures, the COVIDSafe app and the recent Black Lives Matter movement – with collaboration from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and University of Sydney (USYD).
“We were inspired to launch the project out of an interest in the legislative and in policy developments around the COVID-19 crisis in Australia,” the group said in a Q&A. “We understood that the health crisis must be addressed, but [we] were concerned that the measures taken in response to the short-term crisis may cause longer-term harms.”
The group said the impact of COVID-19 has witnessed new public health laws created to curb the spread of the disease, which has had a direct impact on the freedoms and liberties of many. In Australia in particular, the group said the impacts of a recent “hard lockdown” of the Melbourne public housing were “felt profoundly’ by many.
In the ACT, they said the temporary suspension of jury trials raised concerns that those in the midst of cases would be denied a right to a fair trial: “This marked a major move away from the constitutional and common law right to trial by jury.”
Most surprising to the students was the speed in which new legal issues and concerns “seemingly developed overnight”, calling for new reforms much quicker than normal.
Over a series of blog posts, the students hope to target a broad audience that includes other students, academics and those with a great interest in technology law and public policy. The posts are reviewed by a senior ANU academic, with some assisting in the constitutional law, public law and private law-themed blog pieces.
“The conversation about how COVID-19 affected the rule of law is highly dynamic and has allowed for this project to take on a life of its own,” the group wrote. “It has allowed us to write and research aspects of the topic that intersect with our own interests.”
