Coronavirus and the Law in Europe

An online, interactive version of this book is also available on IntersentiaOnline. Read it here.

On 30 January 2020, in response to the globalisation of COVID-19, the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The deadly outbreak has caused unprecedented disruption to travel and trade and is raising pressing legal questions across all disciplines, which this book attempts to address.

The aims of this book are twofold. First, it is intended to serve as a “toolbox” for domestic and European judges, who are now dealing with the interpretation of COVID-19-related legislation and administrative measures, as well as the disruption the pandemic has caused to society and fundamental rights. Second, it aims to assist businesses and citizens who wish to be informed about the implications of the virus in the existence, performance and enforcement of their contracts.

Coronavirus and the Law in Europe is probably the largest academic publication on the impact of pandemics on the law. This academic endeavour is a joint, collaborative effort to structure the recent and ongoing legal developments into a coherent and pan-European overview on coronavirus and the law. It covers practically all European countries and legal disciplines and comprises contributions from more than 80 highly reputed European academics and practitioners.

With contributions by Ana Isabel da Costa Afonso (Catholic University of Portugal, Portugal), Antonio Albanese (Catholic University of Milan, Italy), Guido Alpa (University of Rome – La Sapienza, Italy), Christian Alunaru (Vasile Goldiș University Arad, Romania) Henrique Sousa Antunes (Catholic University of Portugal, Portugal), Wojciech Bańczyk (Jagiellonian University, Poland; University of Osnabrück, Germany), Hugh Beale (University of Warwick; Harris Manchester College and University of Oxford, England, UK), Lucian Bojin (West University Timișoara, Romania), Jean-Sébastien Borghetti (Université Paris II Panthé on-Assas, France), Christoph Busch (University of Osnabrück, Germany), Roberta Calvano (Unitelma Sapienza University, Italy), Angel Carrasco (University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain), Jorge Morais Carvalho (NOVA School of Law, Portugal), António Menezes Cordeiro (University of Lisbon, Portugal), A. Barreto Menezes Cordeiro (University of Lisbon, Portugal), Luísa Cortat Simonetti Gonçalves (Academy of European Law (ERA) and Graduate Institute Geneva, Switzerland), Antonio Da Re (University of Padua, Italy), Eugenia Dacoronia (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), Greece), Gerhard Dannemann (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany; University of Oxford, England, UK), Giacomo Delledonne (Scuola Superiore Sant ’ Anna, Italy), Ekaterina Dmitrikova (Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia), Gabriel Doménech-Pascual (University of Valencia, Spain), Merle Erikson (University of Tartu, Estonia), Sjef van Erp (Maastricht University, The Netherlands), Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson (Conseillère d’Etat, agrégée des facultés de droit, France), Andreas Furrer (University of Lucerne, Switzerland), Martina Gajdošová (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic), Juan José Ganuza (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain), Luca Giacomelli (University of Florence, Italy), Carlos Gómez-Ligüerre (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain), Fernando Gómez Pomar (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain), Mateusz Grochowski (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, Germany), Maria Raquel Guimarães (University of Porto, Portugal), Ewoud Hondius (Utrecht University, The Netherlands), Carmen Jerez (Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain), Miha Juhart (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), María Kubica (Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Spain), Irene Kull (University of Tartu, Estonia), Elisabetta Lamarque (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy), Angelika Layr (University of Lucerne, Switzerland), Álvaro Luna (Cuatrecasas, Spain), Hector L. MacQueen (University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK), Marcello Maggiolo (University of Padua, Italy; Innsbruck University, Austria), Mikołaj Małecki (Jagiellonian University, Poland), Michele Massa (Catholic University of Milan, Italy), Svitlana Mazepa (West Ukrainian National University, Ukraine), Attila Menyhárd (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary), Valentinas Mikelėnas (Vilnius University, Lithuania),Rosa Milà -Rafel (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain), Luka Mišič (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), Christina Möllnitz (University of Bayreuth, Germany), Andrea Nicolussi (Catholic University of Milan, Italy), Andrej Novikov (Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia), Carlo Padula (University of Padua, Italy), Sandra Passinhas (Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal), Denis Philippe (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium; University of Paris, France), Katarzyna Południak-Gierz (Jagiellonian University, Poland; University of Osnabrück, Germany), Sonia Ramos González (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain), Maria Regina Redinha (University of Porto, Portugal), Ewa Rott-Pietrzyk (University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland), Antoni Rubí-Puig (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain), Albert Ruda (University of Girona, Spain), Anton Rudokvas (Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia), Pablo Salvador Coderch (Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Cuatrecasas, Spain), Marta Santos Silva (Maastricht University, The Netherlands; KU Leuven, Belgium), Martin Schmidt-Kessel (University of Bayreuth, Germany), Hans Schulte-Nölke (University of Osnabrück, Germany), Claudio Scognamiglio (Tor Vergata University, Italy), Ioannis Skandalis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), Greece), Marek Sławiński (Jagiellonian University, Poland), Grega Strban (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), Elena Sychenko (Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia), Dariusz Szostek (University of Opole, Poland), Verica Trstenjak (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna, Austria), Christian Twigg-Flesner (University of Warwick, England, UK), Antoni Vaquer (University of Lleida, Spain), Eduardo Vera-Cruz Pinto (University of Lisbon, Portugal), Jeremias Wartmann (University of Lucerne, Switzerland), Christiane Wendehorst (University of Vienna, Austria), Aneta Wiewiórowska-Domagalska (University of Osnabrück, Germany) and Fryderyk Zoll (Jagiellonian University, Poland; University of Osnabrück, Germany).