April 30, 2020 – The Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has recently authorized the appointment of three new study committees to address various legal issues relating to the current COVID-19 crisis and to address future epidemics and pandemics.
The new study committees are:
Study Committee on Public Health Emergency Authorities. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of one or more uniform state laws addressing the authority of state governments to respond to epidemics, pandemics, and other public health emergencies. The committee will consider such topics as quarantines, business closures, collective purchasing mechanisms, and rules for medical practice.
Study Committee on Mitigation of Public Health Emergency Business Disruptions. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of one or more uniform state laws providing special rules and procedures to mitigate the impact of an epidemic, pandemic, or other public health emergency o the operation of businesses. The committee will consider such topics as non-liquidating receiverships, business interruption insurance, and the application of force majeure and impossibility doctrines.
Study Committee on State Governance during Public Health Emergencies. This committee will study the need for and feasibility of one or more uniform state laws addressing the operation of state government during public health emergencies. The committee will consider such topics as temporary suspension of laws through executive action and the use of remote meetings.
Each of the study committees will report to the ULC Scope and Program Committee by July 7, 2020, as to whether one or more acts in any of these areas would be merited.
Further information on all current drafting and study committees, as well as information on the Uniform Law Commission, can be found at the ULC's website at www.uniformlaws.org.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 129th year, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
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Contact: Katie Robinson, ULC Communications Officer, krobinson@...
Uniform Law Commission / 111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL 60602 / 312-450-6600, www.uniformlaws.org
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Katie Robinson
Legislative Program Director
Chicago IL
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