Book Review: COVID-19, Law & Regulation: Rights, Freedoms, and Obligations in a Pandemic

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

COVID-19, Law & Regulation: Rights, Freedoms, and Obligations in a Pandemic. By Belinda Bennett, Ian Freckelton & Gabrielle Wolf. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. vii, 674 p. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 9780192896742 (hardcover) $165.00.

Reviewed by Marnie Bailey
Manager, Knowledge Services
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

COVID-19, Law & Regulation looks at the legal and regulatory challenges and implications of the pandemic with five main themes: the layers of law, the role and scope of law, the understanding of risk, the human rights issues, and the impact on individual obligations. The foreword by Lawrence O. Gostin, the first O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law and director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, sets the scene. Professor Gostin reminds us of the challenges we faced in the early days of the pandemic, from lockdowns and contact tracing requirements to the eventual imposition of vaccination mandates, as well as the disproportionality of illness and death experienced in marginalized populations.

In the first chapter, “COVID-19, Law, and Regulation,” the authors provide a detailed timeline of the pandemic, an overview of the key themes of the book, and a synopsis of each chapter. It concludes with the authors’ hopes for the book.

The second chapter, “Past Legal and Regulatory Responses to Infectious Diseases,” reviews prior epidemics and their effects on legislation. From the Black Death to the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, epidemics and their legal responses, including mandatory quarantines, vaccinations, and labour law changes, are discussed.

After these introductory chapters, the book dives into a thorough examination of the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with an in-depth look at the various restrictions on movement, such as the closing of borders and the quarantining of cruise ships. The book then moves into a discussion about domestic law and emergency measures, including travel restrictions, masking requirements, vaccine passports, and the rules and regulations that developed around testing and contact tracing. While the authors are based in Australia, they also examine each of these measures internationally, discussing the different methods used by various countries, all reviewed with a human rights lens.

An extensive examination of litigation responses to the emergency orders follows, again from an international perspective. The challenges are grouped by theme: border closures, curfews, rights to protest, etc. The last chapter in this section of the book discusses the risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to the risks imposed by the emergency orders, including social isolation, collective mental health effects, and economic challenges.

The next few chapters of the book look at the legal impacts of COVID-19 responses on criminal justice, civil liability, and workplace health and safety. Many countries are again referenced, and while the discussion of the longer-term impacts is succinct, there are many footnotes provided should one want to follow up on specific areas of interest.

The final chapters of the book turn to the development, production, regulation, and distribution of vaccines. These chapters provide a fascinating look into the development of vaccines in general, including issues around human trials and other forms of research. Certain challenges of research publication protocols are also discussed, such as the hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin treatments that were initially successful but whose research results have since been challenged. The chapter on distribution was particularly insightful in its discussion of the systemic inequities in vaccine distribution, which led to wealthier countries being able to easily access the vaccines, as well as in equipment distribution, where ventilators, masks, and sterile gloves were in short supply overall but especially for poorer countries.

The concluding chapter is one of reflection: What worked and what didn’t? How can we reduce the inequity of treatment options for less wealthy countries, as well as for marginalized residents everywhere? Can the mental health and legal aspects of the responses, including the human rights challenges and criminal justice issues, be balanced with the need to protect as many people as possible? When the next epidemic hits, how can we be ready?

With 81 pages of bibliographic references, including case law and legislation from around the globe, COVID-19, Law & Regulation is a well-researched and thorough book. The chapters, while long, are broken down into shorter sections and arranged in a logical manner that flows well, both within the individual chapter as well as the book as a whole.

This is an essential read for anyone interested in the early timeline of COVID-19 and is a detailed examination of much of the pandemic. The book ends in early 2022, just when the Omicron variant was starting to spread, as many countries were providing booster vaccinations and widespread masking was on the decrease. In many countries, including Canada, public health emergency declarations would not be rescinded for another 1–2 years, with the full effects of the pandemic and the responses yet to be discovered. I do think the text deserves to be updated with the knowledge we have gained over the past two years. However, for anyone interested in an overview of the legal issues of the pandemic, this is nonetheless a worthy read.