Self-isolation as a legal regime: the Russian experience

Building on the analysis of regulatory legal acts adopted in Russia during the spread of coronavirus infection, the article defines self-isolation as a special legal regime. It distinguishes self- isolation from the other similar restrictive regimes, and a description of self-isolation regime is given. The article indicates the mechanism of legal regulation used to consolidate the self-isolation regime and values the mechanism of its realization. Namely, it is conceived as a regime of social cooperation and solidarity, being yet insufficiently effective within the social, economic conditions of today’s Russia. This led to the need to tighten state enforcement measures.In an extraordinary situation, public authorities at the regional and local levels have responded quite effectively to the problem by introducing a self-isolation regime. Nevertheless, this led to the restriction of individual rights, which is possible only through federal law. In the authors’ opinion, this causes lack of legitimacy of the self-isolation regime and low level of citizens’ compliance with it. However, the self-isolation regime has a significant potential in social terms. The article concludes, that to use it fully and efficiently it is necessary to refine the concept of the self-isolation regime, eliminate legal conflicts of norms adopted at different levels of government, as well as conflicts of sectorial norms of law.