The initial military directive 5/2020, of march 16, within the framework of emergency law

Abstract

On March 14, 2020, in the context of the health crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic, the Government approved a state of alarm, by means of a Royal Decree that would later be declared partially unconstitutional, delegating to the Armed Forces a series of competences for the management of the national emergency situation, which would be effectively executed on the basis of the Military Operational Right. The management of this first phase of the pandemic, in which the reaction capacity of the States under exceptional situations of health crisis was questioned, demonstrated however that the military order was a valid legal instrument, adjusted to the legal and constitutional requirements that preside over the Right of Exception to face those problems.