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States of Emergency - Centre for Policy Alternatives

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The centrepiece <strong>of</strong> Schmitt’s model <strong>of</strong> emergency powers is the<br />

sovereign dictatorship, the principal characteristic <strong>of</strong> which is the<br />

suspension <strong>of</strong> the entire existing legal order. 64 SigniLicantly, the<br />

sovereign dictator acting under emergency powers can “…actively…<br />

change the existing legal order and trans<strong>for</strong>m it, in whole or in<br />

part, into something else.” 65 As Gross and Ní Aoláin observe, “The<br />

norm becomes subservient to the exception, thereby reversing the<br />

relationship between the two. In fact, Schmitt eliminates<br />

altogether the notion <strong>of</strong> the normal and replaces it with the<br />

exception.” 66 By replacing the existing legal order with the<br />

exception, Schmitt renders the exception the only valid general<br />

rule. The exception as general rule thus is not only norm‐less<br />

(having replaced the ordinary legal system), it also becomes<br />

exception‐less: that is, because Schmitt’s exception as general rule<br />

admits <strong>of</strong> no separation between normality and emergency (i.e.,<br />

the state <strong>of</strong> exception), there can be no exception from the<br />

exception. 67 The consequence is a permanent state <strong>of</strong> exception<br />

(i.e., emergency under the sovereign dictatorship).<br />

In Schmitt’s view, legal norms presuppose the existence <strong>of</strong> a<br />

condition <strong>of</strong> normality. A normal, ordinary state <strong>of</strong> affairs is not<br />

merely a ‘superLicial presupposition’ that jurists choose to ignore<br />

or not; it is goes to the ‘immanent validity’ <strong>of</strong> legal norms. Thus,<br />

64<br />

Carlo Galli (2000) ‘Carl
Schmitt’s
Antiliberalism:
Its
Theoretical
and
<br />

Historical
Sources
and
its
Philosophical
and
Political
Meaning’ 21 Cardozo
<br />

Law
Review 1597<br />

65<br />

Gross and Ní Aoláin: p.164<br />

66<br />

Ibid<br />

67<br />

Oren Gross (2000) ‘The
Normless
Exception
and
Exceptionless
Exception:
<br />

Carl
Schmitt’s
Theory
<strong>of</strong>
the
<strong>Emergency</strong>
Powers
and
the
‘Norm‐Exception’
<br />

Dichotomy’ 21 Cardozo
Law
Review
1825<br />

59

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