A regulation or situation that is self-contradictory or that conflicts with another regulation.
From Joseph Heller's novel "Catch-22", set in World War II. In Heller's book it referred to the regulation that flight crews must report for duty unless excused for reasons of insanity, but that any one claiming such an excuse must, by definition, be sane.
Уловка 22 . Ситуация, в которой вы не можете сделать что-то одно, не делая другого и наоборот.
Government rules require workers to expose any wrongdoing in their office, but the Catch-22 prevents them from their doing so, because they are not allowed to disclose any information about their work.
I can't get a job without a work permit, and I can't get a work permit without a job. It's a catch 22 situation!
Я не могу найти место без разрешения на работу, но и разрешение на работу нельзя получить без места. Это палка о двух концах!