ABSTRACT
Emergencies provoke the use of emergency powers by governments. The vast scope of such powers – their ability to interfere with fundamental individual rights and civil liberties and to allow governmental regulation of practically all aspects of human activity – as well as the possibility of their abuse by whoever exercises them – emphasise the pressing need for clearly defining the
situations in which they may be invoked.3 Yet, defining a ‘state of emergency’4 is no easy task.5
