Conclusion: Learning from the COVID-19 Cases for Future Emergencies

This concluding chapter offers recommendations for the future of emergency policymaking. The contributions gathered in this edited volume found that the policies implemented during the pandemic heavily depended on what had been done before. We argue that more attention should be paid to the principle of proportionality, especially in countries with low levels of institutional trust. Also, investing in legal preparedness is crucial to face situations where the emergency could lead to both ineffective policies and unnecessary curtailment of individual rights. Finally, in many countries, we have observed severe restrictions on data access that reduce the quality of evidence we can provide. We advocate the principle of evidence-based information restriction to promote access to information on a reasonable basis.