The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency

The health emergency linked to Covid-19 brought to the fore the problem of the usefulness and correct application of the precautionary principle. In the paper proposed for the call, the topic will be analyzed starting from the foundations of the precautionary principle, to see consequently how it mu...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Emiliano Frediani
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Utrecht University School of Law 2021
Materias:	precaution in the books and in action covid-19 administrative powers non-reducible uncertainty law of uncertain science adaptive decisions in time of crisis italian answer to emergency timeliness of action Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/936e0f18d0f4453d87d665e3c2e0da1d
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:936e0f18d0f4453d87d665e3c2e0da1d
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:936e0f18d0f4453d87d665e3c2e0da1d2021-11-08T08:17:05ZThe Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency1871-515X10.36633/ulr.644https://doaj.org/article/936e0f18d0f4453d87d665e3c2e0da1d2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/644https://doaj.org/toc/1871-515XThe health emergency linked to Covid-19 brought to the fore the problem of the usefulness and correct application of the precautionary principle. In the paper proposed for the call, the topic will be analyzed starting from the foundations of the precautionary principle, to see consequently how it must be ‘handled’ in practice when the Administration (in the Italian fight against the pandemic, the Government, but also the Regions) is called to decide in contexts of health crisis. Particular attention will be paid, just from the beginning, to the relationship between science and Public Administration, in order to demonstrate how the precautionary approach represents a ‘rule of action’ for the public decision-maker when there is no full scientific certainty. In this perspective, the analysis will be developed starting from the definition of a general context: that one represented by the so-called ‘irreducible uncertainty.’ This premise will be the starting point to define a law of uncertain science,’ which ‘follows’ the facts and is characterized for its flexibility. The problem will then be reported to the administrative decisions, called in emergency times to be ‘adaptive’ and reviewable. The reflection on precaution ‘in action’ will have the Italian case as an observation ‘laboratory.’ In this perspective, the investigation will be conducted by looking at the ‘answer’ of the Italian legal system to the emergency related to Covid-19. This will lead to see if the precautionary approach has been taken seriously by the Italian Administration and, subsequently, what characters have taken the measures to fight against the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak. In conclusion, it will be necessary to understand whether the ‘postulates’ of precaution ‘in the books’ have been translated into an adequate precaution ‘in action.’ In other terms, the attention will be focused on two different aspects: the first related to the ‘time’ of the action; the second to the content of the measures taken to fight against the spread of the virus. This will allow us to understand if the Italian Government acted promptly (in compliance with the precautionary approach) and what was the decision-making process that brought to these measures.Emiliano FredianiUtrecht University School of Lawarticleprecaution in the books and in actioncovid-19administrative powersnon-reducible uncertaintylaw of uncertain scienceadaptive decisions in time of crisisitalian answer to emergencytimeliness of actionLaw in general. Comparative and uniform law. JurisprudenceK1-7720ENUtrecht Law Review, Vol 17, Iss 3 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	precaution in the books and in action covid-19 administrative powers non-reducible uncertainty law of uncertain science adaptive decisions in time of crisis italian answer to emergency timeliness of action Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720
spellingShingle	precaution in the books and in action covid-19 administrative powers non-reducible uncertainty law of uncertain science adaptive decisions in time of crisis italian answer to emergency timeliness of action Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 Emiliano Frediani The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency
description	The health emergency linked to Covid-19 brought to the fore the problem of the usefulness and correct application of the precautionary principle. In the paper proposed for the call, the topic will be analyzed starting from the foundations of the precautionary principle, to see consequently how it must be ‘handled’ in practice when the Administration (in the Italian fight against the pandemic, the Government, but also the Regions) is called to decide in contexts of health crisis. Particular attention will be paid, just from the beginning, to the relationship between science and Public Administration, in order to demonstrate how the precautionary approach represents a ‘rule of action’ for the public decision-maker when there is no full scientific certainty. In this perspective, the analysis will be developed starting from the definition of a general context: that one represented by the so-called ‘irreducible uncertainty.’ This premise will be the starting point to define a law of uncertain science,’ which ‘follows’ the facts and is characterized for its flexibility. The problem will then be reported to the administrative decisions, called in emergency times to be ‘adaptive’ and reviewable. The reflection on precaution ‘in action’ will have the Italian case as an observation ‘laboratory.’ In this perspective, the investigation will be conducted by looking at the ‘answer’ of the Italian legal system to the emergency related to Covid-19. This will lead to see if the precautionary approach has been taken seriously by the Italian Administration and, subsequently, what characters have taken the measures to fight against the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak. In conclusion, it will be necessary to understand whether the ‘postulates’ of precaution ‘in the books’ have been translated into an adequate precaution ‘in action.’ In other terms, the attention will be focused on two different aspects: the first related to the ‘time’ of the action; the second to the content of the measures taken to fight against the spread of the virus. This will allow us to understand if the Italian Government acted promptly (in compliance with the precautionary approach) and what was the decision-making process that brought to these measures.
format	article
author	Emiliano Frediani
author_facet	Emiliano Frediani
author_sort	Emiliano Frediani
title	The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency
title_short	The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency
title_full	The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency
title_fullStr	The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency
title_full_unstemmed	The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency
title_sort	administrative precautionary approach at the time of covid-19: the law of uncertain science and the italian answer to emergency
publisher	Utrecht University School of Law
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/936e0f18d0f4453d87d665e3c2e0da1d
work_keys_str_mv	AT emilianofrediani theadministrativeprecautionaryapproachatthetimeofcovid19thelawofuncertainscienceandtheitaliananswertoemergency AT emilianofrediani administrativeprecautionaryapproachatthetimeofcovid19thelawofuncertainscienceandtheitaliananswertoemergency
_version_	1718442832042131456

The Administrative Precautionary Approach at the Time of Covid-19: The Law of Uncertain Science and the Italian Answer to Emergency

Ejemplares similares