ABSTRACT In 2020, the world is faced with COVID-19 pandemic as one of the worst global catastrophes of the 21st century. The governments of countries around the world have introduced various emergency rules on the territory of their states as a measure to contain the pandemic. Are such restrictions permissible and how justified were they? Did the restrictions imposed comply with the norms enshrined in international human rights standards? Have states managed to strike a balance between “legality” and “necessity”? We will try to answer all these questions in this paper.