Mobilizing Public Legal Awareness in the Implementation of the Covid-19 Health Protocol: an Academic Study on Participation and Compliance

Abstract

Legal awareness is a state in which there is no conflict in people's lives. COVID-19 has a high infection rate, but people's legal awareness about protecting themselves and others is still low. In an attempt to deal with COVID-19, the government has issued a regulation on Large-Scale Social Restrictions (LSSR) through the Ministry of Health, which is contained in Minister of Health Regulation Number 9 of 2020. However, there are still many people who lack the legal awareness to comply with government regulations. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of victims infected with the COVID-19 virus. This study aims to understand and analyze the consequences of the legal lack of community awareness in the implementation of COVID-19 health protocols on the spread of the virus in the community. This research uses a juridical-sociological approach using primary and secondary data. The data analysis is descriptively qualitative. The results showed that the lack of public legal awareness in implementing Large-Scale Social Restrictions caused the government's efforts to mitigate the distribution of COVID-19 in Indonesia to be ineffective. To increase legal awareness, preventive efforts such as coaching, appeals, and education of the public are needed, as are repressive efforts in the form of punishment for those who violate the rules.