A state of exception german ausnahmezustand is a concept introduced in the 1920s by the german philosopher and jurist carl schmitt similar to a state of emergency martial law but based in the sovereigns ability to transcend the rule of law in the name of the public good. A state of exception is a process by which the government allows the rule of law to be dismissed in the name of a specific cause or issue historically these types of states required a specific declaration by the government in order to override the rule of law. In his book state of exception giorgio agamben points out that the state of exception is not a specific kind of law rather it is a suspension of the juridical order itself it defines laws threshold or limit concept