Protection of public interests by narrowing private interests: where is the limit?

Resumo

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has posed many challenges to the international community. In a pandemic, governments make complex decisions every day (respond quickly to emerging difficulties), implement effective quarantine measures that affect the public and private interests of the people. Such decisions are also made by such supranational entities as the European Union. With this in mind, it is essential to analyze the interaction and balance of private and public interests in EU law in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The work aims to analyze the balance between private and public interests in EU law in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Research methods are such methods as dialectical, historical, idealization, analysis, synthesis, abstraction, system, formalization, comparison, and modeling. As a result of the study, the authors concluded that the search for a balance between public and private interests is in all areas and mostly applies to human rights and, in a pandemic, these powers are enshrined in major international treaties and national regulations, with reservations about their possible limitation under exceptional circumstances. At the same time, ensuring the balance of private and public interests is possible only if the rule of law is fulfilled in the implementation of restrictive measures, proportionality, and public necessity.