Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers:Final Report

The Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers reviewed emergency public health laws and parliamentary procedures in the four UK nations. We considered how far these laws and procedures could be enhanced so as to better protect the rule of law and promote accountability, transparency and parliamentary control of executive action. We also undertook comparative research; reviewing public health emergency powers in ten foreign jurisdictions chosen because of their similarities to the UK’s parliamentary system and the efficacy of their legal responses to Covid-19. Throughout our inquiry we kept foremost in our minds the need for governments to act quickly in an emergency to secure timely and effective public health outcomes.