On the legal and psychological lessons of an approaching pandemic: eyewitness notes

Abstract

The article discusses the restrictions on the rights and freedoms of citizens during the coronavirus pandemic, assesses their essence, proportionality and consequences, both legal and psychological. Reflections are offered on the relationship between the right to dispose of one’s life and health and the obligation to preserve health. The emergence of a new group of social minorities is stated - the elderly and citizens with health restrictions (disability), who were most of all subjected to restrictions in their livelihoods. Criteria are proposed that legal restrictions must meet in a pandemic. Assumptions and conclusions are illustrated by examples. The psychological characteristics of the perception of pandemic restrictions and the corresponding behavior of certain categories of citizens are given.