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The Covid 19 epidemic has reached unprecedented proportions and caused catastrophic consequences in all spheres of society. The effects of this epidemic have affected business organizations, namely companies in the Republic of Serbia as well. Considering that the infectious disease Covid 19 has the character of a public danger, taking emergency measures was expected. The potential threat to the life and health of employees launched certain requirements, which were necessary to meet in order to achieve safe working conditions. The paper is based on the analysis of security of employees in emergency circumstances caused by infectious disease Covid 19. The risks and threats of Covid 19 and the importance of applying prescribed protection measures in order to achieve an acceptable level of safety and health at work, as a significant segment of complex and dynamic corporate security.

The pandemic caused by the spread of the infectious disease COVID-19, which affected the entire planet, caused not only the global health crisis, changing the usual way of life of the majority of the world's population, but also affected almost all areas of the state and social system. The health systems were most affected; however, in addition to them, the effects of measures adopted by national legislators or other competent authorities to eliminate or reduce the risk of spreading the disease have affected, inter alia, economic stability, but also challenged the judicial authorities given that in the new circumstances it was not easy to ensure their normal functioning. This primarily refers to the criminal justice, given the importance of cases and the need for urgent action, since it is necessary to ensure the conduct of trials and the work of all procedural entities in conditions that, at least in one period, implied drastic restrictions on some basic civil and human rights and freedoms. In that context, it is especially important to review the justification and legality of the measures introduced in the Republic of Serbia during the state of emergency with the aim of more or less normal operation of the judicial system in conditions when social life was almost completely paralyzed. In addition, there is the question of what challenges and controversial issues are generally posed before criminal law in a pandemic, as well as the analysis of data on the crime rate and the overall crime situation in the Republic of Serbia in the period since the introduction of the state of emergency and during the pandemic.

States of emergency are declared frequently in all parts of the world. Their declaration routinely implies a suspension of basic constitutional rights. In the last half century, it has become the norm for constitutions to contain an explicit 'emergency constitution', i.e., the constitutionally safeguarded rules of operation for a state of emergency. In this paper, I ask whether inclusion of an emergency constitution can be legitimized by drawing on social contract theory. I argue that there are important arguments, both against and in favor of constitutionalized emergency provisions, and that social contract theory—as applied by economists—can be of some help when deciding whether to have, or not to have an emergency constitution. This paper introduces a novel argument for justifying emergency constitutions. It argues that they can serve as a commitment mechanism protecting both citizens and politicians from overreacting to rare but significant threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current international pandemic context, the risks of the underground economy through its most perverse forms, corruption, undeclared work, tax evasion, etc., have been greatly exacerbated by urgently favouring the restriction of freedoms, the infusion of important resources into the economy and not least the interest of Pharma. The turbulent and unprepared international framework has created the premise that in this unfortunate period an activity in the underground economy that influences all its forms, namely corruption, will flourish. According to press reports, the sale of masks, medicines and anti-pandemic health products was a real El Dorado of Romania. Fabulous surcharge purchases made by UNIFARM are known, as well as worldwide, according to a World Bank report, due to the elimination of normal public procurement control filters. The pandemic generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, both globally and nationally, has had various influences on the underground economy, some favorable for the public sector but most unfavourable for the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article drew from prominent Kenyan novelist-writer, Ngúgí wa Thiong'o's personal history on the World Wars and their legacies in Africa and on the affairs of Africans, with a focus on East Africa, and especially his country of Kenya. Ngúgí, whose birth in 1938 and childhood years were on the cusp of the World War II (WWII), reveals that the likes of his father who dodged conscription into Britain's Carrier Corps in the first War, and the conscription of his two elder brothers—one of whom died in service while the other returned home alive—for military service in WWII constitute significant and relevance issues for careful exploration on the subject matter of both World Wars and their legacies on the African continent. So are the various actors whose advent as actors in the affairs of Africans and others in East Africa is directly linked to World Wars I and II. Those would include the likes of Carey Francis, who came on in 1940 as the principal of the exclusive all-boys Alliance High where a generation of Kenyans that included Ngúgí received British-style public school education, Evelyn Baring, the then colonial governor-general of Kenya who superintended the imposition of the State of Emergency in Kenya, in the period 1952–1959, and even Idi Amin, a rank and file African enlistee in the King's African Rifles (KAR) in the aftermath of the World War II. Amin and his ilk were deeply involved in the highly repressive British-led campaign during the State of Emergency in Kenya that led to the death of many of their fellow Africans. It is also noteworthy that as a soldier and subsequently, Amin became a central actor in the politics of post-independence Uganda sequel to his overthrow of Milton Obote's government in a 1971 military coup d'état. The spiraling violence that Amin's advent enhanced in Uganda's body politic remains a recurrent feature of governance in that East African state. The analytical reconstruct that emerged in the article is illuminated with elements of C. Wright Mills' age-old and all-time relevant original theory-rich methodological construct, "the sociological imagination" as the theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, so-called regional medical coordinators (RMCs) were deployed in Bavaria as part of the declared state of emergency in districts and independent cities to coordinate ambulatory care. The experiences were examined in an evaluation project. One aim of the project was to use the data collected to develop recommendations for supporting ambulatory care in future pandemics. Methods: First, cross-sectional surveys of RMCs and general practitioners (GPs) were conducted in parallel, as well as an interview-based qualitative survey of RMCs, GPs and representatives of authorities and the Bavarian Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (BASHIP). Afterwards, based on the empirical data collected and taking into account available publications and reports, recommendations for decision-makers were developed in a sequential process. Results: The main recommendations are a greater consideration of ambulatory care in catastrophic and emergency situations as well as in the updating of existing emergency and pandemic plans; establishment of systematic advisory and feedback structures for policy-makers and authorities with the involvement of experienced, ambulatory physicians to avoid frictional losses; more efficient use of the existing strength in ambulatory care; pre-definition of persons, responsibilities and tasks on state, district and county level; ensuring adequate supporting infrastructure so that advisory physicians can act efficiently. Conclusions: Although the recommendations were developed in the context of an evaluation project of the Bavarian RMC concept, they could be helpful for future pandemic and emergency situations, also nationwide and outside official disaster situations, if adapted to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current situation, during the Corona virus pandemic and evident climate change, the possible nuclear war in Ukraine, leads us to plan life and work in emergency circumstances. Changing the way we sell, fulfilling the life obligations that fill our lives, online sales, treatment, teaching, in schools, mutual duties, food delivery, curfew, closing borders, and much more, has taught us to live in extraordinary circumstances. The risk of reckless behavior of individuals could jeopardize the work of large organizations, take many lives and cause great economic damage. Relations between Russia and the West are very tense today and are very reminiscent of the Cold War. Intensive development of traffic, emergence of new types of traffic vehicles, greater use of various technical devices, etc., The aim of this paper is to present to which extent the protection and rescue forces of the Republic of Serbia are trained and qualified to act either when emergency situations and changed circumstances occur or to act preventively in protection and saving of lives, personal and proprietary safety of citizens. The role of police units is incontestably important when responding to natural disasters, technical and technological accidents and other dangers. The preventive methods used by the police agencies can contribute to the prevention of many occurrences which might have the character of emergency situations. The police agencies have special and important function in the field of fire prevention, transport of dangerous mate- rials, road traffic safety, as well as in the overall security and safety of all citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the use of states of emergency in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic and their compliance with international human rights law. It highlights that the Peruvian government has declared numerous states of emergency, but questions whether they meet international standards and national regulations. It is mentioned that the declaration of states of emergency lacks checks and balances or review mechanisms, which can lead to arbitrary and unconstitutional decisions. Additionally, it is noted that some states of emergency have been used to suppress protests and control civic space. It is concluded that it is necessary to ensure the proportionality and necessity of the measures taken during states of emergency. [Extracted from the article]

Through an analysis of the early legal and institutional response to Covid-19 in Tunisia, this article demonstrates that the narrative of Tunisia's democratic exceptionalism following the 2011 revolution is not translated into a liberal legal practice but is instead upheld by an authoritarian rationale that serves the role of a formal channel that legitimizes power discourse. Specifically, this article focuses on what the state of exception, which was declared during the ongoing state of emergency, reveals about the various uses of law in Tunisia. It argues that the state of emergency has become the norm to the Tunisian way of governance post-2011, allowing for the survival of past authoritarian practices where the legal apparatus is used and deployed as a tool of policing and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of interpretation of this text is several social aspects of the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic which have equivocal and contradictory meanings: state of emergency/crisis, emergency measures, civil and human rights/restrictions to human rights, freedom/limitation of freedom. The basic interpretative and conceptual tools used are the terms 'panopticon' and 'panopticism', whose archetypal patterns point to systematic and systemic damage to the universal human rights to freedom and privacy. This damage occurs by legalizing the surveillance and control of citizens, thus becoming more akin to radical surveillance. The pandemic is seen as an excuse to renew the panoptic vision of the world. The contemporary pandemic surveillance of citizens dissolves the boundaries between the real and the virtual and creates new boundaries of freedom on several levels: movement, speech, work, communication, existence. Some of these limitations of human rights and freedoms relate to the elderly population. This analysis shows the danger of prolonging and legalizing emergency measures in circumstances when, realistically, there is no state of emergency. This poses a question: can a state of emergency become a regular state? The New Normal has the power to create alienated individuals and an alienated society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asking about the value of life in the free-market society implies placing it within the biopolitical networks of coordination, production, and regulation of the processes of the species in the triangle of governance in which sovereignty, networks of experts, and capital interact. It is necessary to place the historical development of these elements in the configuration of forms of government through biopolitics without forgetting the place of bare life as an effect and a resistance to those systems of power. This article aims to analyze, from a biopolitical approach and with psychoanalytic concepts, the historical development of the relations between sovereignty and life to glimpse alternative possibilities of affirmation of life in the face of the current regime crisis of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 4 November 1925 and 31 October 1926, Tito Zaniboni, Violet Gibson, Gino Lucetti, and Anteo Zamboni all tried and failed to kill Benito Mussolini. The significance of these attempts on Mussolini's life and their relationship to the establishment of Fascism has gone overlooked as much scholarship focuses almost exclusively on the consequences of socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti's murder in June 1924. In this article, I analyse the impact that these assassination attempts had on Mussolini's construction of the Fascist state. The article asks two main questions: What role did these assassins, and the state of emergency that their acts generated, play in the establishment of Fascist control? And how did they contribute to Mussolini's cult status and his consecration as a 'man of providence'? I argue that the failed assassination attempts were instrumental in allowing the Fascist regime to create a state of emergency and to capitalize on a fabricated demand for crisis management. These attempts fundamentally structured the conditions for the regime's consolidation of power, including a vast expansion of laws that dismantled the liberal state and established the Fascist dictatorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Toruńskie Studia Polsko-Włoskie / Studi Polacco-Italiani di Toruń is the property of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Faculty of Law & Administration and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In order to take measures to help the categories of people who had to stop their activity, the legislator regulated the granting of an allowance during the period in which the state of emergency was decreed in Romania, such as those established by O.U.G. no. 30/2020. In the context in which it was held by the public authority, through a subsequent analysis, that the conditions for granting the mentioned compensation are not met because the agricultural crops have been maintained, the national court was called to interpret the notion of interruption of the activity, used by the legislator in O.U.G. nr. 30/2020. The analysis involves identifying the purpose pursued by the legislator when enactment of the norm, establishing the purpose of carrying out the activity and the legitimate expectations created by the public authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine out of 10 constitutions contain explicit emergency provisions, intended to help governments cope with extraordinary events that endanger many people or the existence of the state. We ask two questions: (1) does the constitutionalization of emergency provisions help governments to cope with disasters and other extraordinary events? (2) What particular parts of emergency constitutions fare best? We find that the more advantages emergency constitutions confer to the executive, the higher the number of people killed as a consequence of a natural disaster, controlling for its severity. As this is an unexpected result, we discuss a number of potential explanations, the most plausible being that governments use natural disasters as a pretext to enhance their power. Furthermore, the easier it is to call a state of emergency, the larger the negative effects on basic human rights. Interestingly, presidential democracies are better able to cope with natural disasters than parliamentary ones in terms of lives saved, whereas autocracies do significantly worse in the sense that empowerment rights seriously suffer in the aftermath of a disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the actual conditions of changes in lifestyle and treatment status of patients with diabetes before and after the declaration of the state of emergency issued in response to the novel coronavirus. Methods: This study was a collaborative study in two diabetes clinics. A total of 1000 subjects responded to the questionnaire. In addition, data on HbA1c and body weight before and after the declaration of the state of emergency were collected. Results: HbA1c levels significantly decreased from 7.28 ± 0.97% before the declaration of the state of emergency to 7.07 ± 0.86% after the declaration (p < 0.001). A significant decrease in HbA1c levels was also noted in both T2DM and T1DM. A factorial analysis of the change in HbA1c levels found that a high HbA1c level before the declaration was the most influential factor that made the HbA1c level more likely to decrease, with such factors including a good amount of exercise. A positive correlation with change in body weight was noted. Factors that made the HbA1c level less likely to decrease included stress felt about school closures for children, increased opportunities to eat out, increased food consumption, and refraining from exercise to avoid the "Three Cs" (crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces). Conclusion: In the absence of serious economic stagnation or completely disrupted distribution, patients are allowed time to do what they like and can probably improve their glycaemic control status if they see this time as an opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current paper is to study the compatibility of the State border guard and National armed forces of the Republic of Latvia in the state of exception or war situation. To achieve the aim, following objectives were defined: to state current status of military training in State border guard, to compare State border guard equipment, armament, procedures and training with National armed forces ones, to make proposals for improvement of current compatibility. Following research methods were used: monographic or descriptive method, document analysis, logic-constructive method, analytic method. Within the topic of military compatibility research, the author thoroughly examined State border guard tasks in military sphere, the cooperation between both institutions and the compatibility of State border guard and National armed forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ciencia Jurídica is the property of Universidad de Guanajuato and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

On March 13, 2020, the government overwhelmingly supported the introduction of a State of Emergency in Bulgaria. The country’s main focus and efforts are concentrated on overcoming the infection with the new coronavirus - COVID - 19. Specialists are joining forces and based on scientific research and evidence are publishing recommendations for the best protection against the virus, the most important. Our study is related to a survey among Bulgarian and foreign students currently pursuing different specialties at the Medical University - Sofia, to analyze how the emergency affects the habits and sports activities of students. The tasks we set ourselves are preparation of an up-to-date questionnaire for the conditions of the emergency, with which to establish its influence on the habits and sports activity of the students, to process and analyze the data from the survey and based on the results obtained to draw necessary conclusions. To achieve these goals and tasks, a 10 question questionnaire was developed, which was conducted online while remote learning during the Summer semester of the school, 2019/2020 with students from MU - Sofia.

The declaration of the state of emergency in 2020, in the context of curbing the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, issued public debates referring to the constitutional and legal limits of presidential powers, the effectiveness of parliamentary and judicial control, the shape of constitutional relations between the legislative and executive powers. Several decisions of the Constitutional Court were issued concerning the constitutional powers of public authorities during crisis situations and the imperatives of limitation of fundamental rights and exercise of freedoms. The analysis of these decisions was the first trigger of the research. The first approach tries to identify the compatibility of constitutional texts to international law imperatives, to principles of rule of law and separation of powers in the context of limitation of the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms, during emergency states. The study proposes the analysis of constitutional instruments of public authorities to put into practice an efficient management of crisis situations. The conclusions reveal the requirement of clarification and unification of the Constitutional Court jurisprudence regarding the emergency ordinances, the need to clarify fundamental law texts related to limitations of the fundamental rights and exercise of freedoms during crisis situations, as well as the necessity to strengthen the judicial control on measures issued during emergency states.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a genuine stress test for societies around the globe. Societal values were put under public scrutiny, while fear reigned supreme allowing large margins of maneuver for governments in taking restrictive measures promising at least to win some time for health systems to adapt to the new challenges. Along with health systems governments, judicial systems and societies at large had to change the way they function to face the pandemic. In this paper we will present a case study on Romania and the usage of sanctioning mechanisms by the Police and Gendarmerie during the state of emergency, March 16–May 14, 2020. We will explore the challenges regarding the adoption of a sound legal basis for restrictive measures in line with the constitutional provision and the actual implementation of these restrictions with a focus on the performance of two enforcement institutions – the Romanian Police and the Gendarmerie – in this process. In times of crisis, or particularly in times of crisis when the government enjoys even more power than usual, the governmental action must be transparent to build trust and ensure that abuses do not happen. Moreover, the data gathered during the first wave of COVID-19 could help shape public policies for the subsequent waves with the view to improve efficiency while possibly decreasing the restrictions of human rights.

The paper deals with the research of the demand and supply of public passenger transport services in the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 disease. The extraordinary situation has been affecting the behaviour and decision-making of passengers and their demand for public transport not only in the Slovak Republic but globally. The situation has caused a significant decline in passenger transport as well as changes in the structure of passengers who still use the public transport system. Several operators have responded to declining demand by reducing the transport services supply, to reduce operating costs. The declining demand is reflected in a decrease in transport revenues and an increase in the demonstrable loss of operators providing public passenger transport services.

The spread of the pandemic has drawn attention to the issues regarding the protection of fundamental human rights and liberties. Within the context of a state of emergency, which was declared in order to normalize the situation, there has been a surge of restrictions placed upon such human rights as the right to liberty, freedom of movement, the right to property and others. Nevertheless, it is of vital importance for legal states that, despite the state of emergency, interferences into fundamental rights not exceed the constitutional fra­me­work, and that individual rights not be disproportionately violated. The Constitution of Georgia allows for not only restriction, but also expropriation of private property during the state of emergency. Certainly, in every such case, decisions made by the government must follow the principle of proportionality in order to preserve the essence of the right to property. The point of scrutiny is whether or not the abovementioned criteria are met by the regulations regarding restrictions to the right to property imposed in the context of the pandemic.

Since the beginning of 2020 the World woke up to a new reality: due to the dangers of Pandemic, majority of states are forced to change the rhythm of their lives and put it under the strict measures of emergency regime. The massive deployment of the states of emergency has itself put the need to analyse the legislature governing this institute high on the agenda, in Georgia as well as in the world. As the research has demonstrated, naturally, the state of emergency is announced differently depending on the models of governance, such as participation of various institutions in it or the differences of function allocation, however, at all stages the participation of the Parliament, as a controlling body is significant. The foregoing paper will investigate the state of emergency from the parliamentary perspective: the role of legislative body in this process and the threats, that may emerge when exercising governance, will be analysed.

The article aims to analyze the principle of separation of powers in the Ecuadorian context of the state of emergency, decreed due to the health emergency caused by COVID-19. Its specific objective is to provide reasons to consolidate this principle and an adequate understanding of it, within a regime of exception. A brief introductory look at the theoretical and experiential aspects of the state of exception reveals the general suspicion of said institution. Then, from the analysis of its defining features, its regulated nature is deduced and conditioned by constitutional presuppositions. Thus, the state of exception exists and operates in observance of the principle of separation of powers. On this principle, an analytical journey of doctrinal bases consolidates the overcoming of its traditional notion towards a collaborative and dialogic opening between powers. Furthermore, the review of the minimum functions of each power of the state during the exceptional regime shows the prevalence of one power over others to be refuted. Already in the Ecuadorian context, a review of some specific scenarios induces the ratification of the operation of the principle of separation of powers and constitutional jurisdiction during the state of emergency. Finally, critical thinking is collected regarding the management of the pandemic, from which risks and warnings for democracy and human rights are inferred.

In a preceding report (UCL Open: Environment, 2020;1;6), an example of results on changes in the acoustic environment from a local-scale survey in a quiet residential area during and after the ‘state of emergency’ due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan is presented: the noise level was 1–2 dBA lower during the state of emergency, which is smaller than reported from large cities. This note presents the results of a follow-up survey in the same area to provide some more examples to gain an insight into the acoustic environment in this area. In this note, the measurement results of noise levels in June 2020, a few weeks after the cancellation of the state of emergency, are mainly reported. As the results are almost the same as those from during the state of emergency, we can infer that either the noise level was reduced in June to a level that was almost the same as that during the state of emergency, or the noise level after its cancellation in May was possibly higher than usual. In either case, the change in noise level was small, and it was difficult to conclude which case was true.

Aims: To assess the impact of the declaration of the state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of visits to a traumatology emergency department (ED), and on their severity. Methods: Retrospective observational study. All visits to a traumatology ED were recorded, except for consultations for genitourinary, ocular and abdominal trauma and other ailments that did not have a musculoskeletal aetiology. Visit data were collected from March 14 to April 13 2020, and were subsequently compared with the visits recorded during the same periods in the previous two years. Results: The number of visits dropped from a mean of 3,212 in 2018 to 2019 to 445 in 2020. Triage 1 to 3 level visits rose from 21.6% in 2018 to 2019% to 40.4% in 2020, meaning a reduction in minor injury visits and an increase in major ones. There was a relative reduction of 13.2% in femoral fractures in the elderly. The rate of justified visits rose from 22.3% to 48.1%. Conclusion: A marked drop in the total number of visits to our traumatology ED was observed, as well as a relative increase in major injury visits and a relative fall in the minor ones.

Objectives. To highlight the involvement of pharmacists working in community pharmacies in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, to identify the main services provided by pharmacists in order to sustain pharmaceutical care and the main actions taken to minimize the encountered difficulties during the March 16th 2020 – September 15th 2020 timeframe. Material and methods. A questionnaire was elaborated and then distributed to community pharmacies in Cluj County. Based on the results obtained after the completion of the questionnaire, an evaluation of the following factors could be made: pharmacy opening hours, staff plan and the shortage of supplies and personal protective equipment against the Coronavirus disease. Results. The activity in a total of 246 community pharmacies (80.92% of the total number of community pharmacies in Cluj County) was analyzed, of which 134 community pharmacies (54.47% of the number of analyzed ones) adjusted their opening hours, most frequently dependent on the requirements and conditions generated by the state of emergency (in 73.88% of the number of analyzed cases), some of which chose to adjust the staff plan as well. The most important matter that affected the activity of pharmacists during the pandemic was the shortage of personal protective equipment (such as face masks and gloves), as well as the shortage of pharmaceutical grade ethanol, intended for the preparation of antiseptic and disinfectant solutions (sanitizers). Conclusions. The pharmacists have shown an active involvement in maintaining the pharmaceutical service and the public health of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic as a part of the frontline healthcare professionals. They were able to elaborate new strategies adapted to the requirements generated by the community and to the restrictions generated by the state of emergency in order to fulfil their duty. During this period of time, the importance of preparation activity in pharmacy was strongly emphasized, the most frequent problem encountered being the difficult supply with personal protective materials.

Gathering social media content and analysing the heavy and unstructured text coming from posts, comments and reactions can come as a powerful tool in understanding how people react to the information they receive. In this article we present the results from a social media analysis of 10771 headlines, with their subsequent text bodies and comments posted in a subreddit destined for Romanians during the state of emergency declared in Romania, from March 16 to May 15, 2020. Our objective was to model the main topics debated by this targeted population of people that tend to use Reddit to discuss current issues and to identify the sentiment polarity towards these topics. As expected, Romanians are mostly concerned with their social condition in the context of the pandemic caused by CoVID-19, as our research has revealed a word frequency for the term “Coronavirus” prominently higher than any other preferred term. However, the analysis brings up a surprising turnaround as the overall sentiment of the text posted in this dataset is predominantly neutral with a higher frequency of positive posts compared to the negative ones. This was unforeseen by our initial expectations: a natural tendency to more negative posts than positive considering the context of the chosen study period. Moreover, when compared to the time series of the CoVID-19 infections and caused deaths in Romania, spikes of extremely high or low mean sentiment scores per day can be correlated to the fluctuations of the declared cases. Not only does this bring us closer to understanding the social impact of CoVID-19 in the current context, but the outcome of this analysis can be easily extrapolated for further investigations upon other social networking tools or for more in-depth analysis on our studied corpus.

From the beginning of 21st century, legal ramifications of declaring a state of emergency have attracted a lot of attention due to the fact that many states have resorted to this measure in order to combat, first, terrorism threat, and most recently – a new pandemic – COVID-19. However, a state of emergency is certainly not a new issue, and there is a large body of scholarly work dedicated to it, alongside the issue of derogations from fundamental human rights and liberties both from international human rights law and constitutional law perspective. This article focuses on constitutional legal aspects of the state of emergency and derogations from human rights obligations and is aiming to address some of the problems that might occur during a state of emergency. It will be argued that a state of emergency represents a convenient shortcut to authoritarianism and that a strict constitutional legal framework is necessary to be put in place in order to prevent the spread of exceptional provisions within the legal system, which could lead to the normalization of a state of exception.

The most common prime-time program format on mainstream TV news channels in Turkey is discussion programs that tend to last for several hours. This study, conducted in the aftermath of the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, when the country was in a state of emergency, examines the role of these programs in shaping public opinion by analyzing which agenda is being reproduced by media professionals and media experts. By adapting both qualitative and quantitative research tools, this study advances the following conclusions: 1) Journalists working in mainstream news channels and experts invited to programs on these channels are confined to an agenda set by government officials, and discuss issues within the framework set by those officials. 2) Despite the low ratings of such programs, the owners of these media outlets, with little or no bargaining power in the face of official authority following the state of emergency, are obliged to operate within the red lines drawn by government as the only option to securing the longer-term interests of their businesses in other sectors. 3) Under these constraints, some major topics that are in the public interest are either totally ignored or given little coverage.

As a component with high sensitivity, tourism is a sector of consequence, sensitive to the imbalances of the socio-economic metasystem that includes it. In the context of establishing the state of emergency on the Romanian territory as a result of the pandemic with SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the activity of the economic operators was severely affected or even suspended. Considering the importance of tourism in the Romanian economy, the authors consider peremptory the joint effort of the decision makers in the field and those with significant incidence in its support, in order to limit the losses, to relaunch the activity and to avoid the longterm effects. This approach aims to identify the main characteristics of the hospitality industry, with the highlight of the specificities of the impact of the pandemic context depending on the typology of tourism and of the sufficiency and viability of the adopted measures. For this reason, in this study has been used qualitative research methods, resorting to inductive, deductive, comparative reasoning in studying the particularities of tourism, in evaluating decisions in the pandemic context, in notifying the created interdependencies and in the cause-effect analyzes. Differences in the amplitude of the impact according to the typology identified and the need to extend the facilities to compensate the difficulties induced to the tourism area have resulted from the research undertaken.

Increased risks are inspiring context for family practices' analysis as they can impact changes in practices, thus changing family functioning and relations. The aim of the paper is to identify features of the main family practices (reproduction of everyday life, partnership, parenthood) during pandemic and state of emergency in Serbian society. It is assumed that these conditions led to practices' changes. The issue is analysed based on data collected on a sample of 265 female respondents using a combined research plan. The results showed that the state of emergency and the pandemic of COVID-19 virus induced changes in main family practices. The most common were changes in the reproduction of everyday life (especially, groceries shopping), while pre-pandemic partnership practices were the most resistant to change. Traditional and egalitarian practices showed greater resilience to change, while masculine practices are usually newly established. There is continuity in the use of "female" resources in family practices, but with a shift from this pattern towards more frequent engagement of "male" resources, due to changes in the professional roles during the state of emergency.

During the COVID-19 virus pandemic, individuals and society as a whole faced primarily challenges in the field of health, physical and mental, but also a number of other problems caused by the virus and various measures mainly related to restriction of freedom of movement and freedom of assembly. Apart from the health aspects of the global pandemic and its impact on the world economy, the sociological and legal aspects are extremely important, especially in the field of respect and protection of guaranteed human rights as one of the basic postulates of modern democratic society. When and to what extent their restriction is justified and expedient, as well as the exact limits of action of the state government and its representatives in situations when they are obliged to protect the general safety and public health of the population, are issues that have always caused numerous controversies and conflicting opinions. Today, individuals, various nongovernmental, regional and world organisations, are trying to answer the question whether during the past period man as a central subject of legal protection was seen through the eyes of respect, compassion and love of those whom he entrusted to make decisions on his behalf or whether the human dignity or a free man was sacrificed for the sake of political and financial interests of individuals and certain interest groups. Life in the digital era and the accelerated development of digital technologies have made the issue of privacy and personal data protection topical, especially in the period of the last global pandemic and the appearance of mobile applications for monitoring the contacts of patients. This raised the question of compliance of their use with legal regulations at the international and national level in the field of human rights protection.

In this paper, we evaluate the effect of the state of emergency for the first wave of COVID-19 in Japan, 2020 from the viewpoint of mathematical modelling. In Japan, it was announced during the period of the state of emergency from April 7 to May 25, 2020 that the 80% reduction of the contact rate is needed to control the outbreak. By numerical simulation, we show that the reduction rate seems to have reached up to 86%. Moreover, we estimate the control reproduction number Rc during the period of the state of emergency as Rc=0.36 (95%CI, 0.34–0.39), and show that the effective reproduction number Re after the lifting of the state of emergency could be greater than 1. This result suggests us that the second wave of COVID-19 in Japan could possibly occur if any effective intervention will not be taken again.

Yugoslavia was a complex political structure made up of six republics and two autonomous provinces, both within Serbia. In early 1989, the situation in Kosovo was complex. In the middle of March 1989, violent demonstrations began in the cities of the autonomous province of Kosovo. The participants in the demonstrations were Kosovo Albanians. The situation in Kosovo wasdiscussed at the sessions of the Presidency of the SFRY. The paper presents the conclusions and measures taken by the Presidency of the SFRY to normalize the situation in Kosovo. When taking measures to eliminate Albanian nationalism and separatism, the Presidency of the SFRY was guided by the Constitution (1974), but also by considering how the measures would affect internal political relations in Yugoslavia and the international position.

Romania is at the moment, as in fact almost all the countries of the world, in a deep economic crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic that inevitably affects small and medium-sized enterprises as well. This paper presents the impact felt by Romanian entrepreneurs following the new crisis and their reaction to the measures adopted by the Government to mitigate this impact.

Competing Interests: None

How can we assess the institutional resilience of consolidated democracies in emergency situations? How can we know which regulations of the state of emergency best immunize democratic systems from intra- or inter-regime shifts? With the COVID-19 pandemic, these questions have become urgent. Although worries that intra- or inter-regime shifts may increase due to the proclamation of the state of emergency mainly target countries that were already prone to autocratization, specific complaints have been addressed at undue impingements on fundamental rights in consolidated democracies, too. In most of the current indexes, the presence or absence of certain institutional features is usually considered as per se sufficient to determine the degree of a system's resilience. Instead, our analysis suggests that these criteria ought to be used as heuristics in the context of an in-depth analysis of institutional mechanisms. This would lead to a reformulation of how such indexes are made. In order to make this point, the article presents a qualitative methodology based on the classical theory of the "state of exception", taking the divergent cases of Italy and Portugal as an illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL) on humanitarian access are clear, implementing them at the national level can become challenging. To ensure full respect for those rules, States must strike a balance between preserving the security of the civilian population and humanitarian organizations and ensuring that people have access to goods and services that enable the full enjoyment of their rights. This article seeks to show how the IHL rules governing humanitarian access apply in the context of the Sahel region of Africa. First, it describes the multiplicity of armed actors that are present in the Sahel and the humanitarian situation in this region. Next, it addresses the legal framework applicable to humanitarian access under IHL applicable in non-international armed conflicts. The article then examines the measures that have been taken by the States of the Sahel to protect the civilian population and humanitarian organizations, such as the resort to declaration of states of emergency and to armed escorts. It is shown that these measures can hinder the delivery of impartial humanitarian assistance. Finally, the article describes some creative solutions that have been put forward by Sahelian States to facilitate humanitarian access. Examples of these include the creation of coordination mechanisms to foster dialogue on humanitarian access where all concerned actors are invited to participate; the adoption of domestic legal frameworks related to humanitarian access through which this access is proclaimed and its violation sanctioned; and the recognition of humanitarian exemptions in counterterrorism laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It analyses the sanitary measures that the government has taken to respond to the pandemic since March 2020, the way these measures are enforced, and the extent to which women comply with the measures. The article draws from desk research and empirical data from the eastern city of Bukavu, where the research team conducted 134 structured interviews. The findings show widespread willingness to comply with some of the main measures because of fear of sanctions, fear of the pandemic and because of trust in the state or church. The article argues that many women hold the state accountable for the success in containing the virus, but also criticize the state for not providing livelihood assistance during the state of emergency. Further research is needed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on state legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restrictive measures have greatly affected sports life and sporting events in the country. Therefore, we conducted a survey among students from the athletics team of UNWE with the purpose to determine their attitude to the training process, their participation in competitions in a pandemic environment. The survey contained 10 questions and was conducted through the electronic platform for distance learning of UNWE. It was attended by 30 students - 15 women and 15 men. The results of the survey were processed mathematically and statistically. The analysis of the results shows that the needs of students for training activities are growing significantly, as over 75% of the women respondents and 85% of the men respondents need training and train more than three times a week. All athletes from the team give an unequivocal answer that with the opening of the stadiums they have managed to conduct quality training and the state of emergency has not had a detrimental effect on their sports form. The results provide us with the reason to conclude that the athletes are motivated and accept calmly the coming competitions; realize the importance of the sports activities for overcoming their physical and psychic problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses restrictions on human mobility and migrations decreed as a result of the expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyzes these restrictions' exclusionary approaches aimed mainly at the impoverished migrant population and synthesizes different facts that, over time and by means of state provisions, which are conceptualized as one of the emergency, are limiting rights. For example, the right to migrate; to receive asylum requests or non-refoulement; to live without stigmatization, racism and violence. These are all justified as a matter of national security – a concept that originates and spreads as a policy of the receiving state with a high impact on the emigrants of the expelling states. Guatemala's case is shown to be one that exemplifies how migration in transit is managed and its relationship with the establishment of a state of prevention, which corresponds to a state of emergency conceptually exposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North African nations, especially Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco, have been heavily affected by COVID-19 if compared to other African countries. Governments in North Africa took proactive legal measures to manage the virus threat, safeguarding population health, but also triggering repressive and invasive mechanisms that in some cases jeopardized basic freedoms and rights. This work will analyze comparatively the anti-COVID-19 legislations, pointing out how the legislative measures mirrored the level of transition of democracy, the opacity of some regimes, exploitation of the pandemic to foster repressive control, and highlighting the weakness of new democratic institutions unprepared to balance health security and democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacies, as the most affordable health facilities, provide an effective supply of drugs and the necessary pharmaceutical care. In epidemic situations or a state of emergency, as in Covid - 19, a change in the drug supply process is required. In order to provide the necessary medicines, protective equipment and disinfectants, it is necessary to properly plan financial income and expenses. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the values of sales in pharmacies to serve the population in the conditions of "no flu", "flu" and "Covid - 19". For the analysis of the value of sales data from the cash turnover of a pharmacy for servicing the population in the city of Varna were used. A t-test was performed on independent samples of “Student” to examine the influence of the factors "flu", "month period" and "virus type". The analyzes were performed at a level of statistical significance α = 0.05. Short-term peaks in sales values were reported during Covid - 19. They are compared with the results during the flu and show much lower overall values. The study found that the "flu" factor was decisive for the value of pharmacy sales, p = 0.002. The 'influenza type' factor did not establish a statistically significant difference between the arithmetic mean values for the 'influenza' group and for the 'covid, p = 0,521' group. Based on the data as of March and April 2020, compared to the known influenza strains, Covid – 19 proves to be a serious challenge for analyzing and planning the value of sales in the pharmacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]