The principle of the rule of law requires that emergency measures be provided for in abstract terms by the law,29 because only this guarantees that, whenever institutional and/or political tensions arise in a country, the task of evaluating whether these tensions correspond to a situation of emergency is anchored to a legal standard. Otherwise, that task would be left to the rulers who might define “emergency” as whichever tension they believe dangerous for the functioning of the country and adopt whichever measure they might think fit for dealing with an emergency as defined by themselves. Respect for the rule of law bars such a possibility, which might pave the way for unchecked enlargement of power by rulers.
----------------------------------
