The legal effects of coronavirus, what are they? Hibernation? Freezing? Paron? Slowdown? A hiatus and we’ll see?
Abdicating reality in order to possess its essence.
A. Tabucchi
We live in a moment as if everything around us had been paused. A moment of apparent uncertainty that pushes us to question everything and I say “apparent” because uncertainty is part of our being, only this time it is becoming more visible. More than uncertainty or a “new type” of uncertainty, what we are living in are times of confusion, so much so as to repeat what Orestes said “There is great confusion in the divine world as in the human world”. Forgetting the divine world, which is beyond anyone’s competence, what does seem certain is that a great confusion has permeated all our surroundings and makes it difficult to make decisions and to reflect calmly on the immediate future and our projects.
In recent weeks we have been receiving an avalanche of information of all kinds. Most of it useful, most of it redundant, some of it contradictory and some of it too superficial or hasty, which in no way helps to reduce the confusion in which our reality seems to have settled. No one is to blame, on the contrary, we should be grateful because those who in these circumstances are motivated to contribute something personal deserve all the recognition, and we must recognize with satisfaction that each of these contributions adds up to more than what is subtracted. However, the problem is that there are too many unknowns in our equations for any of the formulas offered to us to produce a result (neither correct nor incorrect). Assumptions have to be made and the risk that assumptions have is that we do not know how far from the result they will be taking us.
At sea, setting the course is an arduous task and every inaccuracy can take us far away from our destination, which is not always a bad thing. However, in the sea, as in reality, we cannot stay still, nor in “dead calm”, the movement, whether we control it or it controls us, is inevitable, so, with or without mistakes, we must keep moving forward. The profusion of messages can make it difficult for us to make decisions, the thickness of the forest usually hinders us from finding a way out, but “there is a way out“, and perhaps more than one.
Summarizing all the changes that this pandemic will entail in the applicable legislation and in law in general is frankly complex. Here again, there have been many articles, news, information, messages and other writings that have appeared recently and all of them should be useful to us, but the changes are so rapid at times, so unstable that it is difficult to discern what is really happening. Each of these changes is intended to solve a specific circumstance, at a specific time and for a specific group without evaluating the consequences (or without evaluating them sufficiently or simply assuming them, because there is no other choice). I am not talking about whether they are good or bad, whether they are expected or not, simply that every legislative act is not exhausted in itself like those messages of the spies in the movies, but they extend their validity beyond their own limits and in times of confusion they are part of it.
My intention in writing these lines was not to contribute to the bewilderment but rather the opposite, but I fear I will not succeed, because it is not easy for anyone, if not almost impossible, to escape the tyranny of his time and as I said, it is a time of confusion and very inaccurate directions. What can you do! Daumier used to say that “we must be of our time”, although it is also true that he answered “what if the time is wrong?
For general legal purposes and regardless of what the law specifically establishes for each thing (and the casuistry is so broad that it is impossible to manage in a few lines), I would dare to say that for everything that has been affected by the alarming situation we are experiencing, the law has been put “in parenthesis”. In a way, it is as if this time does not count for many things, although it does, unfortunately, count for the ERTE or for the reduction of working hours and so many other things. Undoubtedly this is the case for certain judicial decisions or procedural computations, for some deadlines, it is the case for certain tax obligations (not all) or administrative obligations (not all), it is the case for many of the documents that have expired or are about to expire, such as passports, ID cards or even the ITV of the car, just as there is a parenthesis in the operation of the Registries and the deadlines for registration when applicable. It is a parenthesis for the approval of the annual accounts of the companies and the celebration of meetings, for the audits that cannot be carried out telematically or to determine the liability of the administrators when the legal dissolution of the company due to a loss that endangers its viability and therefore, in this situation, also the patrimonial liability of the administrators. It is also a parenthesis to the right of separation of the partners or the reimbursement of contributions. It is a parenthesis for certain clauses of some contracts to which the rules of force majeure will apply (when applicable) and therefore some of the obligations of the parties may be postponed as long as the necessary measures are taken to mitigate the damage. It is a parenthesis for certain work obligations or for the causes of sick leave, delays or certain behaviors of the worker. It is also a parenthesis in school activities and in the provision of certain services such as gymnasiums, restaurants, shows, trips, etc. We could go on but, with all the possible nuances, we would always be in a parenthesis.
All this does not imply that many aspects of our life and legal activity cannot and should not continue. Insofar as the contractual conditions can be fulfilled, they must be fulfilled, as far as possible this must continue in the usual way, although it is difficult to think that in one way or another the emergency situation does not affect us and therefore also our legal activity and therefore, even collaterally, the general principle should not be applied.
The intention of these lines is to try to establish a general principle to be used as a starting point for the analysis of each particular case and as a general idea, and simplifying a lot, we must think that we are in a period of parenthesis and that this should be the general rule for everything that affects us, on this, as always, should apply the exceptions that never disappear and not vice versa as many seem to be doing.
The only bad thing about parentheses is that they have to be closed, and there is still uncertainty about that, and the longer they are, the more things fit in them and the more uncertainty, but that clearly deserves a separate reflection.
