Addressing Japan’s disposal of nuclear-contaminated water from the perspective of international human rights law

The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water containing radionuclides into the ocean by Japan will lead to its integration into the entire ecosystem through processes of circulation and biomagnification,eventually entering the human body via the food chain.This poses a substantial risk of irreversible damage to both the ecosystem and human health,a situation that will worsen with the ongoing discharge of such water.The respect and protection of human rights represent an international consensus,and safeguarding fundamental human rights is a substantial obligation that states must undertake in accordance with both international and domestic law.Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster,Japan has continuously violated its international legal obligations to protect human rights in several areas,including the resettlement of disaster victims,the reduction of nuclear radiation levels,and the handling of contaminated water.Such actions have compromised and will continue to compromise the basic human rights of not only its citizens but also those of people worldwide,including environmental rights,the right to life,development rights,and food rights.In the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdown,the public and workers involved in handling nuclear contaminants have been continually exposed to high radiation levels,endangering their rights to life,development,and health.Japan’s inadequate efforts in victim resettlement and environmental restoration have jeopardized the environmental and food rights of its citizens to live healthily and access food in an environment unaffected by nuclear radiation.The release of nuclear-contaminated water poses a risk of Japan’s nuclear pollution to the people of neighboring countries and the global population at large.The principle of human rights underpins the theory of a community with a shared future for humanity,and human rights are a crucial area of China’s active participation in United Nations affairs and global governance.By voicing concerns over Japan’s potential human rights violations globally,China demonstrates its role as a responsible major country.In response to Japan’s breach of legal obligations and human rights violations,China can adopt a reasoned and beneficial approach,including calling on the international community to hold Japan criminally accountable for crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute and advancing scholarly discussions on ecocide and crimes against the marine environment.Furthermore,China should persist in seeking advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice and strive for substantive accountability,utilizing the mechanisms of international human rights organizations to make its voice heard.

Fate of Right Coronary Artery Occlusion after a Surgically Repaired Aorto- Ventricular Tunnel in a Neonate

The aorto-ventricular tunnel is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly.We present a case of aorto-ventricular tunnel diagnosed via fetal echocardiography.Emergency surgery was performed on the 2nd day of life to close the tun-nel,located just in front of the right coronary ostium,due to the patient’s unstable health condition.The post-operative period revealed complete occlusion of the right coronary artery.Due to the patient’s stability,we opted not to reintervene on the right coronary artery.The patient fully recovered without the need for further coronary intervention.In cases of patients with an aorto-ventricular tunnel(AVT)and associated coronary lesions,it is crucial to exercise caution when intervening in the coronary arteries.

The Theoretical Logic of the Right to Security

The growing significance of security issues has expanded the necessity and possibility of recognizing and achieving the goal of security from the perspective of human rights.Combined with socio-cultural and historical dynamics,human rights can be construed as the needs of people to which social authorities should and can respond,and their mechanism depends on“the alignment between people’s intrinsic needs and the social resources available.”Security,as a significant part of people’s intrinsic needs,should be supported by social resources;social authorities at all levels have the duty and potential to support people’s security needs.Thus,security has the socio-cultural basis to be considered as a branch of human rights.Once the human rights attribution of security has been established,further consideration is required for its place in the human rights spectrum.When analyzing the existing set of human rights,we can classify them based on the subject,the object,or the goal.The right to security is more appropriately classified within the dimension of goals,thereby being placed alongside the right to subsistence and the right to development.Integrating security into human rights can resolve the relationship between the right to security and other human rights using the theoretical framework of rights conflict,rights hierarchy,and rights system ranking,thereby avoiding the tendency to curb the security needs of countries and individuals by ideologizing human rights.

Pragmatist View of Human Rights:Theoretical Explanations of China’s Human Rights Practice

The pragmatist view of human rights represents a the-oretical condensation of the Chinese practice in human rights devel-opment.In view of the problem of circular idling between rights and claims caused by the traditional view of human rights of focusing on contents and not valuing implementation,social segmentation caused by empty talks on interests and claims while ignoring social develop-ment,and the phenomenon of the issue of human rights completely becoming empty and useless political rhetoric,the pragmatic view of human rights,based on the fact that there is a gap between the claims and realization of human rights,emphasizes that instead of blindly ex-panding the types of rights in term of text,it is better to base on prac-tice and promote the maximum realization of existing rights through development.The pragmatist view of human rights attaches impor-tance to relevant economic,social and cultural basis to promote the realization of human rights,rather than only focusing on the claims themselves;it pays greater attention to enhancing the realization of rights,rather than the distribution of rights under the total limit;it ad-vocates more for cooperativism in the realization of rights,rather than confrontation.The pragmatic concept of human rights takes Marxism as its theoretical basis and the gene of practice and the dimension of development as its theoretical characteristics,and promotes the devel-opment of human rights through the realization of rights.

Research on the Reform of"Separation of Three Rights"for Rural Homesteads in Juancheng County,Shandong Province

In order to realize rural revitalization in an all-round way and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the economy and society,China is committed to deepening the pace of building a new countryside with Chinese characteristics.The reform of the"Separation of Three Rights"of rural homesteads is a key measure,which aims to activate rural resources,enhance the vitality of rural economic development,and then promote the overall process of rural revitalization.This study selects Juancheng County,Heze City,Shandong Province as a typical case.Through an in-depth analysis of the relevant policy orientation of the national homestead reform and the specific practice of local promotion work,it systematically sorts out the registration of homestead rights,transfer of use rights and relevant policy measures adopted in paid use,qualification conversion,policy publicity and system establishment.After in-depth research on the system reform practice of the"Separation of Three Rights"of homesteads in Juancheng County,this paper reveals the main problems existing in the current reform,including the lack of clear policy support for the mechanism of paid use of homesteads,difficulties in the process of identifying qualification rights and challenges,the imperfection of the transfer mechanism of use rights,and the lack or lag of relevant policies.A series of problem-oriented policy suggestions are put forward,including establishing and improving the system of paid use of rural homesteads,improving the income distribution mechanism,promoting the innovation of the mortgage guarantee system for the right to use homesteads,and optimizing the homestead qualification certification procedures.These suggestions aim to provide a useful reference for the Juancheng County Government in promoting the reform of"Separation of Three Rights"of homesteads,and then promote the rational allocation and efficient utilization of rural homestead resources.

The Historical Position and Value Dimensions of Human Rights Civilization

Human beings are the mainstay and the ultimate goal of civilization.The history of human civilization is a continuous struggle to realize the respect,liberation,protection,and development of humanity.Human rights are an achievement of humanity and a symbol of progress,and the human rights civilization is an important component of human civilization.Understanding and interpreting human rights from the perspective of human rights civilization means that human rights are not only a concept or an idea but also a grand historical and long-term social practice.Up to now,the development of human rights civilization has roughly experienced four awakening eras:initialization,revolution,popularization,and globalization.In terms of its value dimensions,it has the characteristics of progressiveness,diversity,commonality,inclusiveness,indivisibility,openness,and so on.The historical position of human rights civilization and the development of its value dimensions have shown to the world that human rights are the common wealth of humanity,and human rights belong to all mankind;human rights are historical,concrete,and developmental;the concept of human rights is constantly evolving,and its connotations and categories are constantly expanding;achieving the free and well-rounded development of every person is the highest value realm of human rights civilization.The Chinese modernization endows Chinese civilization with modern strength and opens up new horizons for human rights civilization.The new pattern of human rights civilization to be created by Chinese modernization not only possesses the common characteristics of human rights civilization but also enjoys Chinese characteristics based on its own national conditions,enriching and developing the diversity of human rights civilization for all mankind.

On the Cooperation Between China and the Non-Aligned Movement in the Field of the Right to Development and its Prospects

China and the Non-Aligned Movement share the same goals,a common code of conduct,and similar ideas in protecting the right to development,and the two have a solid foundation for cooper-ation.Both emphasize that the right to development is a basic human right,strive to elevate the right to development to a mainstream hu-man right,and jointly advocate placing the right to development at the center of the agenda.They work together to enhance the strategic sta-tus of the right to development.Both of them have participated in the formulation of the Declaration on the Right to Development,and col-laborated to improve the Declaration.They have also jointly proposed the resolution on the right to development,and supported the drafting of the Convention on the Right to Development to advance the codifi-cation of the right to development.Both of them uphold South-South cooperation and promote North-South dialogue and cooperation.They have established a support mechanism to promote international cooperation on the right to development in a coordinated manner.The cooperation between China and the Non-Aligned Movement in pro-tecting the right to development has broken the past Western-centered paradigm of human rights development,broadened the international perspective of the human rights cause,and played a crucial role in the formation of international human rights norms.In the future,oppor-tunities and challenges coexist for cooperation between the two sides,with promising prospects.China’s cooperation with the Non-Aligned Movement in the protection of the right to development has accumulat-ed valuable and inspirational experiences for the human rights cause of developing countries and the building of the international human rights system.。

The Way to Optimize the Right to Personal Data Portability in Chinese Practice——Based on Empirical Analysis of the Privacy Policies of 66 Mobile Apps

Although the existing legal norms and judicial practic-es can provide basic guidance for the right to personal data portabili-ty, it can be concluded that there are obstacles to the realization of this right through empirical research of the privacy policies of 66 mobile apps, such as whether they have stipulations on the right to personal data portability, whether they are able to derive copies of personal in-formation automatically, whether there are textual examples, whether ID verification is required, whether the copied documents are encrypt-ed, and whether the scope of personal information involved is consis-tent. This gap in practice, on the one hand, reflects the misunderstand-ing of the right to personal data portability, and on the other hand, is a result of the negative externalities, practical costs and technical lim-itations of the right to personal data portability. Based on rethinking the right to data portability, we can somehow solve practical problems concerning the right to personal data portability through multiple measures such as promoting the fulfillment of this right by legislation, optimizing technology-oriented operations, refining response process mechanisms, and enhancing system interoperability.

Twenty Years of the Implementation of the Human Rights Clause in the Constitution:Achievements,Implications,and Research Topics

On March 14,2004,the Second Session of the 10th National People’s Congress of China adopted the fourth amendment to the Chinese Constitution,the most noticeable highlight of which is the addition of the paragraph“the state respects and protects human rights”as the third clause in Article 33 of Chapter II“Basic Rights and Obligations of Citizens”in the Constitution.The inclusion of the clause of human rights in the Constitution is considered an important milestone in the history of human rights development in the People’s Republic of China.The implementation of the human rights clause not only showcases the values of the Party and the state in respecting and protecting human rights,but also promotes the development of human rights,shapes the culture of human rights,and endows the rule of law with a rich humanistic spirit.Over the past 20 years,the publicity,research and practice of the human rights clause have made the Chi-nese people realize that human rights are not only a“great term”,but also a common value shared by mankind.Amid the once-in-a-century changes of the world,although the development of human rights is facing various challenges,the humanistic spirit contained in the hu-man rights clause has become the internal driving force for building consensus in the whole of society.Reinterpreting the significance and value of the human rights clause can help us conscientiously draw on the experience in the implementation of the clause over the past 20 years and contribute Chinese wisdom and experience to global human rights governance with a more open mind and inclusive attitude.

Challenges to Online Criminal Litigation in the Context of Smart Justice and Responses——Focusing on the Protection of the Right to Defense

Online criminal litigation transcends the constraints of physical time and space and changes the logic and path of trial hearings for some criminal cases with the help of technology.However,the leapfrog shift from the“physical field”to the“virtual field”has brought great challenges to the effective exercise of the defendant's right to defense.Online criminal justice further highlights the imbalance in the relationship between prosecution and defense in the context of smart justice,and proposes a new topic for protecting the human rights of the prosecuted.The introduction of online criminal litigation in judicial practice is intended to achieve justice in a faster and more convenient way.However,the dissipation of the ritualized remote hearings tends to undermine the effectiveness of the defense and impair the defense's ability to cross-examine evidence,while the technically advantageous public authorities can aggravate the barrier to the defense's meeting and reading the case file.The root cause is that technological power instrumentalism overemphasizes pragmatism and the pursuit of truth under the position of authority,thus diluting humanistic care for the subject of litigation.In order to resolve the problem with the quality and effectiveness of the right to defense in remote hearings,it is necessary to transform online criminal litigation from a“practical technical tool”to a“convenient auxiliary method,”and appropriately weigh the limits of pursuing truth against human rights protection in special scenarios.Meanwhile,it is also feasible to provide technical care for the defense and strengthen its ability to cross-examine evidence.Moreover,a covert communication platform should be furnished for the defender's online meeting to actively strengthen the protection of the defendant's right to defense.

From the Subjectivity of Human Rights to the Universality of Human Rights——A Preliminary Interpretation of the Theory on the Subjectivity of Human Rights

Universality is one of the essential characteristics of human rights, but there is a substantive difference between idealism and realism in understanding the concept of universality of human rights. The concepts of radical universality and strong universality based on the concept of natural human rights are too idealistic and thus have a high risk of being alienated into a tool of international re-pression in practice. On the contrary, the theory on the subjectivity of human rights can effectively defuse this risk brought about by radical universality and strong universality. Advocating a transition from the universality of human rights to the subjectivity of human rights not only keeps in line with the actual construction process of international human rights, but can also effectively interpret the practical difficul-ties in the realization process of international human rights. Therefore, it can be used as another alternative theory on human rights beyond the theory of natural human rights.

Human Rights and Development:China's Contributions Based on a Larger Concept of Human Rights

The Western liberal view of global governance can no longer effectively address the challenges facing the world today or respond to the demands of developing countries in the fields of human rights and development.Meanwhile,the United Nations human rights and development agenda also has its limitations.Against such a backdrop,China's path of human rights development has avoided the trap of human rights confrontation and the clash of civilizations.It has set an example of complementarity and positive interaction between human rights and development by unifying collective human rights with individual human rights and integrating the universality and particularity of human rights.Xi Jinping,general secretary of the Communist Party of China(CPC)Central Committee,delivered a speech at the 37th group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on China's Path of Human Rights Development.This elevated China's human rights development to a new historical height.Practice has proved that China's concept and path of human rights in the new era have not only effectively promoted the development of its human rights cause,but also contributed Chinese wisdom to the global cause of human rights and development with a larger concept of human rights.Under the framework of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind,the Belt and Road Initiative,and the Global Development Initiative,China has contributed to enhancing the discourse power of developing countries in human rights and building a fairer,more just,more reasonable and more inclusive system for global human rights governance.

Research on the Constitutional,Historical and Practical Logic of the Chinese Path of Human Rights Development——From the Perspective of the Inclusion of Human Rights Clause in the Constitution

The inclusion of the human rights clause in the Chi-nese Constitution is a concern and expression of the spirit of the Con-stitution,which has laid the institutional regulations of the fundamen-tal law for the development of human rights in China,provided the principles and value norms of the highest level of effectiveness for the legal protection of human rights,and built a profound constitutional basis for the formation and improvement of the Chinese path of human rights development.The human rights clause is not only a summariza-tion and affirmation of the historical practice of Chinese human rights development under the leadership of the Communist Party of China,but also a new starting point for the development of human rights in China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.It marks that the development of human rights in China has entered a new era.The Party and the state have finally embarked on a path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics by formulating and implementing the Human Rights Action Plan of China,eliminating ab-solute poverty through the national poverty alleviation campaign,and promoting human rights protection through the rule of law.

Understanding the Human Rights of Modern Individuals—Revisiting Habermas’s Dual Critique and the Reconstruction of Intersubjectivity

Human rights are not only pivotal in depicting the relationship between individuals and communities but also a focal point of political philosophical concerns oriented towards reality. The inseparability of human rights from individual self-identity reveals a contradiction between practicality and historicity in understanding individuals, as highlighted in the debate between liberalism and communitarianism. In order to reconcile this contradiction, Habermas,drawing from German classical philosophy, examines practicality and historicity separately: while Fichte intertwines objectivity in self-identity, revealing the practicality of individuals but neglecting their real elements, Hegel interprets self-identity under the concept of unity,examining individuals from a historical dimension but letting rational rules dominate reality. Ultimately, Habermas reconstructs the process of modern individual self-identity from the theory of communicative action by critiquing the shackles of subjective philosophy. He not only reconciles the divergence between practicality and historicity in self-identity, but also elucidates the intersubjective core inherent in human rights.

Comparative Analysis and Legal Reflection on the Boundaries of Human Rights Due Diligence in the Supply Chain

As global supply chains become increasingly lengthy and complex, human rights due diligence in the supply chain is becoming a controversial focal point in the accountability of multinational corporations. In recent years, legislative practices in the field of human rights due diligence have shown a trend from voluntary soft law toward mandatory hard law, and from corporate due diligence for their own operations towards extended due diligence for the entire supply chain. However, there is a divergence in national practices regarding the extent to which human rights due diligence should extend along the supply chain and the manner in which it should be incorporated into domestic legal policies. International soft law interpretations surrounding the boundaries of human rights due diligence in the supply chain are decentralized, posing risks of interpretation diversification, boundary blurring, and procedural formalization, as well as risks of misinterpretation and misuse. Meanwhile, some countries and regions are vigorously promoting mandatory legislation on human rights due diligence in the supply chain, which has profound implications for the stability of global supply chains and the international economic and trade order. Against this backdrop, it is crucial to explore the reasonable boundaries of human rights due diligence in the supply chain. Instead of applying a one-size-fits-all approach,the rationality of legal factors and the complexity of practical factors should be considered, applying context-specific measures based on the varying degrees of linkage between companies and negative human rights impacts in the supply chain. China should be particularly wary of the “chilling effect” of mandatory legislation on human rights due diligence in the supply chain, attaching great importance to national supply chain security and international supply chain competitiveness.Additionally,China should actively promote the implementation of voluntary human rights due diligence under the United Nations framework, and accelerate the enhancement of China's discourse power in the international rule-making process in the fields of industry and commerce as well as human rights.

Revisiting the Spirit of the UDHR and Discussing Human Rights Development——Summary of Views from the Seminar Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On December 4,2023,the China Society for Human Rights Studies hosted a seminar in Beijing commemorating the 75^(th) Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Participants discussed topics such as the significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,China’s theories and practices in respecting and safeguarding human rights,the three global initiatives and global human rights governance,human rights protection in the digital age,and telling Chinese stories of human rights in the new era.The discussions led to a broad consensus and achieved positive results.

The Connotations of the Constitutional Clause on Human Rights Protection From the Perspective of Foreign-related Rule of Law

The inclusion of the human rights clause in the Chi-nese Constitution is the core normative manifestation of the constitu-tionalization of human rights,and points to the relationship between international law and the Constitution in the sense of positive law.The inclusion of the human rights clauses in the Chinese Constitution itself is an inherent part of the development of China’s socialist constitution,and socialism has already contributed valuable concepts and practices of human rights protection to the modern world in its early stage.The constitutionalization of human rights protection does not necessarily lead to the superiority of international law over the constitutional order of a country,but rather to the convergence of international law and domestic law through the constitutional order.The relevant rules of international law will be effective only when they are transformed into domestic law through the Constitution and the human rights clause in the Constitution.Correspondingly,the domestic legal order is brought into line with the international legal order through the Con-stitution and its human rights clause.Behind the system of fundamen-tal rights in the constitutional order is the value foundation of the en-tire legal system.The advancement of foreign-related rule of law has brought new opportunities for China’s judicial practice to further pro-mote the protection of human rights.In the future,we should further integrate the human rights values embedded in socialism into China’s constitutional practice,enhance human rights protection around the country,and take a more active part in global human rights gover-nance.

On the Dilemma of Contemporary Liberal Theory of Moral Rights for Penalty Justification——Exemplified by the Right to Personal Liberty

Contemporary liberal theory on moral rights argues that moral rights associated with personal liberty constitute a strong constraint on the boundaries of state power.Therefore,the core issue of the penalty justification is not the purpose of the penalty,but the reason for the penalty to refrain from infringing on the moral rights of individuals.In order to justify the penal system,scholars have explored solutions such as limiting the content of rights,waiving rights,and finally rights forfeiture.However,the concept of rights forfeiture cannot be reasonably integrated into the framework of the liberal theory of moral rights.The failure of these attempts stems from the patchwork understanding of rights presupposed by the liberal theory of moral rights.There is another systematic way of understanding rights that offers a better justification.Individual rights are not an independent non-derivative moral justification,and both individual rights and the penal power of the state are only part of a specific(realistic or ideal)system of rules that collectively serve certain values.The real question of penalty justification is not why the punishment does not infringe on the moral rights of individuals,but whether the overall institutional arrangements,including the penal system,are justifiable for all citizens,including the punished.

Side Event"Human Rights Protection for the Next Generation:the Rights of Children and Youth"Held in Geneva

On January 23,as the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Working Group conducted its fourth review of China's human rights record,the side event"Human Rights Protection for the Next Generation:the Rights of Children and Youth",co-sponsored by the New Sunshine Charity Foundation and China NGO Network for International Exchanges,was held in Geneva.Experts and scholars representing dozens of civil society organisations from different countries exchanged their views around the topic.

Reaffirming the Significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Upholding the Highest Values of Human Rights in the New Era

It is of particular significance to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the special occasion of the 10th National Constitution Day.In reviewing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,I’ll share my insights and reflections in three aspects.