Alarm and Pandemic: Legal-Constitutional Problems of States of Necessity in Light of the Doctrine of the Constitutional Court Commentaries on Constitutional Court Judgment 148/2021, of 14 July, Action of Unconstitutionality Num. 2054-2020 (BOE Num. 182, of 31 July 2021); to the Judgment of the Constitutional Court 183/2021, of 27 October, Action of Unconstitutionality Num. 5342-2020 (BOE Num. 282, of 25 November, 2021); and to the Judgment of the Constitutional Court 168/2021, of 9 October, Appeal for Legal Protection, Num. 2109-2020 (BOE No. 268, of 9 November, 2021)

Abstract

A commentary is made on STC 148/2021, of 14 July, in relation to the declaration of the state of alarm in March 2020; STC 183/2021, which declares unconstitutional the six-month extension of the state of alarm, as well as the appointment of delegated competent authorities, and linking these comments with the content of STC 168/2021 in relation to the appeal for protection (recurso de amparo) filed against the Agreement of the Bureau of the Congress of 19 March 2020. The first ruling, adopted by a slim majority of six votes in favour and five against (opposing positions that have been translated into the corresponding individual votes), declares unconstitutional part of Royal Decree 463/2020 and the terms "modify or extend" in section 6 of article 10, in the wording resulting from the single article, section 2, of Royal Decree 465/2020. The second STC partially upholds the appeal of the alleged unconstitutionality against several precepts of Royal Decree 926/2020, of 25 October, which declared the second state of alarm; against several sections of the Resolution of 29 October 2020, of the Congress of Deputies and against art. 2, the sole transitory provision and the first final provision of Royal Decree 956/2020, of 3 November, by which the state of alarm was extended by Royal Decree 926/2020. The judgment declares the unconstitutionality of the six-month extension and the appointment of delegated competent authorities set out in the contested regulation.

And the third STC points out that the declaration of the state of alarm, like that of any of the other two states of emergency and siege, cannot under any circumstances interrupt the functioning of any of the constitutional powers of the State and, in particular, of the Congress of Deputies.