Piotr Szymaniec

THE EPIDEMIC AND THE LAW. SOME REFLECTIONS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF LAW

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24040/pros.13.11.2020.sdtsp.40-49

Abstract

The paper discusses the issues of legal response to new, hitherto unknown security threats, such as epidemics of previously unknown diseases. In his considerations, the author refers to historical examples as well as theories of such scholars as Ulrich Beck. Particular attention will be paid to legal regulations during the cholera epidemic in 1829–1837, because this epidemic is very well documented by the authorities of many European states, and moreover, it took place when both the legal institutions of modern states and the mass society were emerging. The final section will ask questions about the possible influence of the current COVID-19 pandemic on the understanding of law and its social role.

Key words

epidemic, law, COVID-19, rights, principle of proportionality