The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments around the world to become innovative in how they carry out their functions. In particular, they need to respond speedily to developments as the scientific evidence evolves. Rules for regulating conduct accordingly need to constantly evolve. The ‘golden met-wand’ of law, to adopt Lord Coke’s phrase in the Case of Prohibitions, is not particularly well-tuned to assist in such regulation other than at a level of generality. It is unsurprising accordingly that governments have had to ‘supplement’ legal provisions with soft law. There is nothing novel about this – public authorities have long been in the business of helping people to understand the law – but it does raise important questions about the nature of domestic soft law, what role it should play and whether the UK government’s use of it during the period of the pandemic has been appropriate.
The Rule of (Soft) Law