EMERGENCY POWERS, COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS & MANDATORY VACCINATION: A 'RULE-OF-LAW' PERSPECTIVE

The main argument of this book is that vaccine mandates facilitate the creation of a fundamentally unfair and unequal society where vaccinated people are privileged and the unvaccinated become second-class citizens who are excluded from most activities of normal life and are regarded as lepers in their own country. In this context, this book discusses the concept of legality known as the 'rule of law', and the use of emergency powers in Australia. It also focuses on the unconstitutionality of mandatory vaccination, and it examines the possible use of the external affairs power in the Constitution to combat mandatory vaccination. Also discussed in this book is the role that civil disobedience can play when protesting the imposition of vaccine mandates and other draconian measures. Finally, the reader is invited to ponder how the use of emergency powers is historically used as a means of suppressing fundamental rights and dramatically increasing the power of the State.

 

Augusto Zimmermann is professor and head of Law at the Sheridan Institute of Higher Education, and also adjunct professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Australia (Sydney Campus).From 2012 to 2017, he served as a Law Reform Commissioner in Western Australia. While teaching (and coordinating) constitutional law and legal theory at Murdoch University, he was awarded the 2012 Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research, as well as two Law School Dean's Research Awards, in 2010 and 2011. He is also the author/co-author/editor/co-editor of numerous academic articles and books, including Fundamental Rights in the Age of Covid-19 (Connor Court Publishing, 2020).

 

Gabriël  Moens AM is emeritus professor of law at the University of Queensland and served as pro vice-chancellor and dean of the School of Law at Murdoch University. In 2003, Moens was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal by the prime minister for services to education. He has taught extensively across Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States. Moens has recently published two novels A Twisted Choice (Boolarong Press, 2020) and The Coincidence (Connor Court Publishing, 2021).

 

 

Quote from the book:

"The health orders issued by Australia's governments have the effect of violating the concept of legality known as 'the rule of law'. These governments have adopted extra-constitutional measures that undermine the doctrine of separation of powers and the principle of equality before the law, as well as the basic right of citizens to object to any form of medical treatment, including mandatory vaccinations, which are now increasingly imposed by the government".