Extra-legal decision-making during supreme emergencies

Abstract

A supreme emergency refers to an imminent threat to the security, freedom, and well-being of a significant number of people, presenting a serious challenge to democratic processes. In such situations, the absence of specified legal guidelines may prompt a government to resort to extralegal measures to address the imminent danger. This raises the critical question of whether democracy can justify the use of extralegal measures by political authorities during life-threatening situations. To examine that question I consider the instrumental and intrinsic accounts of the normative basis of democracy. I conclude that neither approach offers an adequate justification for extralegal actions during emergencies. Instead, I argue that such actions are excused but not justified.