‘In March 2020, the government introduced a set of restrictions to ‘lockdown’ the UK in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020; The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020; The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020). These lockdown restrictions form the central plank of a wide range of government interventions, which to date include the 359-page Coronavirus Act 2020, 61 statutory instruments (emerging from 46 different parent acts), and an even greater amount of policy and guidance. The central purpose of the lockdown restrictions is to protect public health, by both containing the rate of infection and protecting NHS capacity to treat the influx of COVID-19 patients. There has been a lively legal debate about the restrictions—described as ‘almost certainly the most severe restrictions on liberty ever imposed.’ In addition to the legal debate, however, we also need a socio-legal analysis. An examination of how the public understand and experience the lockdown, and the significance of these perceptions for compliance, is essential to developing a clear picture of how the lockdown restrictions are working. Understanding the role of law in society, and not only in strict ‘legal’ terms, has rarely been so important.’
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UK Constitutional Law Association, 8th May 2020
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
