A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to perform actions or impose policies that it would normally not be permitted to undertake. A government can declare such a state during a natural disaster, civil unrest, armed conflict, medical pandemic or epidemic or other biosecurity risk. Such declarations alert citizens to change their normal behavior and orders government agencies to implement emergency plans. Justitium is its equivalent in Roman law—a concept in which the senate could put forward a final decree (senatus consultum ultimum) that was not subject to dispute.

States of emergency can also be used as a rationale or pretext for suspending rights and freedoms guaranteed under a country's constitution or basic law, sometimes through martial law or revoking habeas corpus. The procedure for and legality of doing so vary by country.

United States[edit]
Further information: Senate Report 93-549, Insurrection Act, National Emergencies Act, and List of national emergencies in the United States
The United States Constitution implicitly provides some emergency powers in the article about the executive power :

Congress may authorize the government to call forth the militia to execute the laws, suppress an insurrection or repel an invasion.
Congress may authorize the government to suspend consideration of writs of habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it."
Felony charges may be brought without presentment or grand jury indictment in cases arising "in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger."
A state government may engage in war without Congress's approval if "actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."
Aside from these, many provisions of law exist in various jurisdictions, which take effect only upon an executive declaration of emergency; some 500 federal laws take effect upon a presidential declaration of emergency. The National Emergencies Act regulates this process at the federal level. It requires the President to specifically identify the provisions activated and to renew the declaration annually so as to prevent an arbitrarily broad or open-ended emergency. Presidents have occasionally taken action justified as necessary or prudent because of a state of emergency, only to have the action struck down in court as unconstitutional.[110]

A state governor or local mayor may declare a state of emergency within his or her jurisdiction. This is common at the state level in response to natural disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency maintains a system of assets, personnel and training to respond to such incidents. For example, on 10 December 2015, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency due to flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains.[111]

The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows the government to freeze assets, limit trade and confiscate property in response to an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States that originates substantially outside of it. As of 2015 more than twenty emergencies under the IEEPA remain active regarding various subjects, the oldest of which was declared in 1979 with regard to the government of Iran. Another ongoing national emergency, declared after the September 11 attacks, authorizes the president to retain or reactivate military personnel beyond their normal term of service.[112]

Example Active 2020 State of Emergency WorldWide

Active in 2020[edit]
On 25 March 2020, India declared a national emergency.
On 25 March 2020, New Zealand Minister for Civil Defence Peeni Henare declared a National State Of Emergency for COVID-19.[113]
On 25 March 2020, Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
[114]

On 22 March 2020, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.[115]
On 21 March 2020 Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [116]
On 21 March 2020, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 18 March 2020, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 18 March 2020, Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.[117]
On 18 March 2020, North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski declared state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 17 March 2020, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney declares public health emergency for COVID-19. [118]
On 17 March 2020, Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [119]
On 17 March 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared all of the Philippines to be in a state of calamity following a dramatic rise in cases of COVID-19.[120]
On 17 March 2020, Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi declares state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 16 March 2020, Government of Armenia declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [121]
On 15 March 2020, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 15 March 2020, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [122]
On 14 March 2020, Quebec Premier Francois Legault declares public health emergency for COVID-19. [123]
On 13 March 2020, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez announced the declaration of the state of emergency in the nation for a period of 15 days, to become effective next day after the approval of the Council of Ministers for the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Spain.[124]
On 13 March 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency for the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic[125]On 13 March 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [126]
On 13 March 2020, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [127]
On 12 March 2020, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [128]
On 12 March 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [129]
On 12 March 2020, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [130]
On 11 March 2020, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 11 March 2020, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [131]
On 10 March 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [132]
On 10 March 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [133]
On 10 March 2020, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [134]
On 10 March 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [135]
On 9 March 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 9 March 2020, Ohio Governor Mike Dewine declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.[136]
On 8 March 2020, Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [137]
On 7 March 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.[138]
On 6 March 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 6 March 2020, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 5 March 2020, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.
On 4 March 2020. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.[139]
On 29 February 2020, Washington declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [140]
On 29 February 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for COVID-19.[140]
On 3 March 2020, The governor of the state of Tennessee, Bill Lee, declared a state of emergency for the whole state, following the tornado outbreak of 2–3 March 2020. [141]
On 11 March 2020, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared a state of emergency for COVID-19. [142]