Coronavirus (COVID-19)

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This subtopic contains archived 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.

The

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Latest Public Law News

Commons Library publishes briefing on the UK voting age

The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on the voting age, following the announcement of plans to reduce the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK.  This briefing details the current voting age for UK elections and considers the debate about lowering the voting age.

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The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 33rd Report of 2024–25, drawing special attention to Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 997). The statement includes two key sets of measures. The first makes significant changes to the skilled worker visa route, tightening the conditions for granting such visas and removing the social care sector from the list of occupations eligible to recruit migrant workers. Several aspects of this new system remain unclear, pending a consultation that has yet to be launched. The second closes new applications to the two statutory schemes that supported Afghans who assisted UK operations and objectives in Afghanistan, including through resettlement in the UK. The statement is drawn to the special attention of the House due to insufficient explanatory material to clearly understand its policy objective or intended implementation.

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The UN Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has published draft findings concluding that the UK breached Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention during the development of the EU Withdrawal Bill. The Committee found that the UK failed to: (1) implement required public consultation timeframes; (2) make the draft Bill available for public scrutiny; and (3) provide opportunities for public feedback. The findings, which follow a 2017 complaint by Friends of the Earth, will become legally binding under international law if adopted by the Convention’s member states in November 2025. If adopted, the UK will be required to implement legislative changes to ensure effective public consultation on future environmental laws. The UK government may choose to implement the findings ahead of the November 2025 meeting.

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The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has announced that it will scrutinise the draft Human Rights Act 1998 (Remedial) Order 2025. This follows the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in SW v United Kingdom, which found that section 9(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998 is incompatible with Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as it prevents individuals from claiming damages for judicial acts done in good faith which breach their rights under Article 8 ECHR. The JCHR is mandated under Standing Orders to examine proposed remedial orders and report its findings to Parliament within 60 sitting days. As part of it inquiry, the JCHR invites written submissions by 26 September 2025.

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