Yet again it’s a SLAW article that gets to the nub of things as the word “essential” becomes somewhat of a catch all phrase.
Sam Muller writes by way of introduction…
The Covid-crisis lays bare things that were always there but not that visible. Inequality. Vulnerability. The amount we travel. How marketized our societies have become. What it also shows is how the justice sector in most countries is caught up in itself. Four structural vulnerabilities are laid bare.
Firstly, the self-image. When the presidents or prime ministers of the world declared lockdowns – except for ‘essential services’ – courts generally closed. That conveyed a self-image of not being an essential service. Most citizens (and some judges) see that differently. If you are a doctor with a demented patient that urgently needs to be put into care, the justice system is an essential service. If you are in the middle of a complex divorce, a labour conflict, a neighbour dispute, or an insolvency situation, the justice system is an essential service. If you are waiting for a ruling whether you should go to jail or not, the justice system is an essential service. Those that work in the health and education sectors fought lockdowns. They looked for ways to stay open and connected with their users. So did supermarkets. These sectors had alternative systems up and running within days.
Full article at. http://www.slaw.ca/2020/05/05/am-i-essential/
