Extending of the Legal Order During Pandemic: The Russian Perspective

Russian Sociological Review. 2021. Vol. 20. No. 4. P. 29–42.

Belov M.

The unprecedented measures of quarantine regulation have led philosophers and lawyers around the world to speak of the fragility of democratic freedoms and the return of the state of emergency as a political reality described in the writings of 20th century theorists. However, the imposed restrictions are considered in the works either in relation to the legal mechanism of their imposition or through the prism of political philosophy. In addition, the Russian experience has not been sufficiently highlighted in the publications. This article attempts to synthesise legal analysis with political-legal philosophy in order to show that the extension of the rule of law is always embedded in its logic. The first part of the article shows, using the example of substantive legal practice, how what has already been mentioned at the level of philosophical reflection and in relation to foreign legal orders has been implemented in Russia. The second half of the text, draws attention to the logic of protest which coincides with the logic of the police and the state. Since the rights to which the protesters draw attention have their source precisely in the existing legal order, both the actions of the law enforcement authorities and the actions of the protesters are aimed at protecting it. The conclusion is that the danger of this situation is that the normative system could potentially replace social reality in the future.

Keywords: philosophy of law, violence, Правовое пространство, правовое время,правовая культура,право и мораль, законность и правопорядок., политическое насилие, чрезвычайное положение, state of emergency, Walter Benjamin, Вальтер Беньямин, полицейское насилие, пандемия COVID-19, anti-pandemic restrictions, legal-order

Publication based on the results of: Ethics of solidarity and the biopolitics of quarantine: theoretical problems of the cultural and political transformations during pandemic (2021)