Preparedness and the Legal System

Just a short note on a brief paper by the American Bar Association, "Rule of Law in Times of Major Disaster," which lays out a set of principles to guide the preparation and response of the judicial system for a major disaster.

There are no real surprises here, but the ABA's principles may be useful as a kind of checklist for planning. I'll just focus on a few of the 12 principles that ABA provides:

The rule of law must be preserved when a major disaster occurs.

The preservation of the rule of law requires proactive planning, preparation and training before a major disaster strikes.

All those involved in the justice system must work collaboratively to assure the ongoing integrity of the system in times of major disaster.

Federal, state, territorial, tribal and local governments should work with each other and with the private sector to plan, prepare and train for a major disaster. Such efforts should focus on means to preserve order, protect vulnerable populations, insure adequate communications and assure continuity of operations of business and government.

State, local and territorial Bars should educate their members to plan, prepare and train for a major disaster, including information enabling attorneys to assure the continuity of their operations following a disaster, while maintaining the confidentiality and security of their clients’ paper and electronic files and records.

There's a list of specific steps under Principle 10 that is particularly helpful (if a bit obvious), including:

Disaster risk assessment and planning should be integrated into government and private infrastructure and land use decisions.

Environmental assessments should include consideration of disaster scenarios and discuss mitigation measures.

Standing government procedures should be in place to assess prevention and response to all major disasters, rather than relying on ad hoc mechanisms.

Special attention should be given to the needs of vulnerable populations in planning disaster responses. Characteristics requiring special consideration include poverty, age (including both the elderly and children) and disability.

Legislation should insure that deadlines, whether found in state or federal rules or statutes or in private contracts such as insurance, can be modified or tolled in the event of a major disaster.

States should review regulatory statutes to insure that they contain appropriate waiver provisions for conditions resulting from a major disaster.

Again, no real surprises. But repetition is an important part of making a message stick.