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Measures against covid-19: a return to the rule of law?

Germany

by Kurt Scherrer

(15 February 2021)  For the first time, due to a lawsuit in Thuringia, a German district court has taken a position on the measures against covid-19 that have been adopted so far. At the centre of the proceedings, the Weimar District Court had to assess the legal basis of the measures imposed to combat covid-19 adopted in spring 2020 and thus their legality and proportionality. The judgement was eagerly awaited, as it was the first time that various officially decreed measures and restrictions, up to national directives of the German federal government, were subject to legal scrutiny following a citizen's complaint. It was therefore a matter for the court to assess the extent to which the decisions of the authorities were compatible with the freedoms and rights of citizens constitutionally guaranteed in a liberal and democratic constitutional state. The landmark judgment was published on 11 January 2021 and aroused a great deal of interest among the persons concerned because of its detailed justifications and unusually clear language. Is it any wonder that it has so far had little coverage in the major private and public media?

Minimum quotas for the country's foodstuffs

Czech Republic

(24 January 2021)  According to the Czech Food Act, the supply to grocery shops of a certain size will have to consist of 55% of domestically produced food from 2022 onwards. By 2028, the share of these products is to be gradually increased to 73%.

Food security: food shortage alert

Lebanon

(3 February 2021)  The Lebanese Union of Food Importers claims that the food supply of the country's population is threatened due to the severe economic crisis and the strict restrictions imposed as a result of covid-19.

A New Health Order for the World

A post-Covid social contract vs. «The Great Reset»

by Professor Dr.iur. et phil. Alfred de Zayas, Geneva School of Diplomacy

Many political scientists, economists, lawyers, historians, journalists and civil society activists have come to realize that the post-Covid world should not merely “pick up where we left off”, but actually requires a new social contract, one that will have better budgetary priorities, place people over profits, adopt concrete measures to advance equality and social justice. International solidarity and emergency preparedness must be strengthened to jointly face global challenges. Resuming “business as usual” is not an option. The crisis we are suffering and the pathetic mismanagement by many countries is the direct result of failed neo-liberal policies that must be revisited and corrected if the planet is going to survive.

Digital central bank currencies – the monetary apocalypse

A commentary by Ernst Wolff

(18 January 2021)  While almost all of the world's governments are terrifying their peoples under the pretext of fighting a pandemic and harassing them with increasingly harsh measures, a process is taking place in the background that threatens our future considerably more than the currently rampant virus ever could. This is the development of digital central bank currency, which is being driven by more than three dozen central banks in collaboration with numerous tech corporations.

Joe Biden – a democratic turn?

by Roland Hureaux*

(31 December 2020)  It takes rare thoughtlessness to claim – as the majority of the European and American press, as well as Biden's supporters in the US presidential election, do – that Trump's defeat will save democracy.