States of Emergency - Centre for Policy Alternatives

legislation for the peace, order and good government of Canada. 93
Accordingly, the Emergencies Act of 1988 authorises the federal
government to declare four types of emergencies: ‘public welfare
emergency’ (natural disasters), ‘public order emergency’ (serious
threats to the security of Canada), ‘international
emergency’ (involving acts of intimidation towards Canada or
other countries), and ‘war emergency’ (real or imminent armed
conLlict involving Canada or its allies). 94 The initial and speciLically
permitted durations as well as the nature and scope of emergency
powers so brought into operation, depend on which kind of
emergency is invoked.
In Spain, the constitution establishes three distinct states of
emergency: the state of alarm (estado
 de
 alarma), the state of
emergency (estado
de
excepción) and the state of siege (estado
de
sitio). 95 The constitution does not deLine these, but sets out the
authority and procedures for the declaration of each state of
exception as well as their initial durations. Elsewhere, the
constitution also grants a decree‐making power, in cases of
‘extraordinary and urgent necessity’ for the central government to
issue ‘provisional legislative decisions’. 96 Organic Law 4/1981
deLines the three states of emergency and describes the
circumstances under which each may be declared. Thus, a state of
93
See Peter W. Hogg (1997) Constitutional
Law
of
Canada (4 th Ed.)
(Ontario: Carswell): Vol.1, Ch.17
94
Emergencies Act 1988, S.C. 1988, Ch.29, S.80. See also Peter Rosenthal
(1991) ‘The
New
Emergencies
Act:
Four
Times
the
War
Measures
Act’ 20
Manitoba
Law
Journal
563 at p.565‐573; Eliot Tenofsky (1989) ‘The
War
Measures
and
Emergencies
Acts’ 19 American
Review
of
Canadian
Studies
293
95
Article 116 of the Spanish Constitution
96
Article 86
72