Coronavirus (COVID-19)

This subtopic contains materials, commentary and analysis on the public law implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, together with links to related guidance and policy documents.

Coronavirus legislation

Legislation was key to the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, ensuring that actions were taken on a clear and secure legal basis. Central to the legislative response was the passage of the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020), which received Royal Assent on 25 March 2020. This emergency legislation was fast-tracked to provide the government, devolved administrations and authorities in the UK with extensive powers to respond to the pandemic. For background reading, see: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—emergency legislation receives Royal Assent, LNB News 26/03/2020 4 and Coronavirus Act 2020, LNB News 26/03/2020 3.

While passing CA 2020, Parliament also passed the Contingencies Fund Act 2020, increasing the capital limit of the Contingencies Fund to allow for additional expenditure on account. This was done to enable departments to access cashflow required to fund measures introduced as part of the coronavirus response. For details, see: Contingencies Fund Act 2020, LNB News 26/03/2020 2.

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