On the Parliament Participation in the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights

Whether, and if so how, parliaments should participate in the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council is emerging. Due to their unique contributions to human rights protection and promotion, parliaments should participate in the process. Furthermore, some parliaments are already involved in this mechanism, including drafting national reports, engaging in interactive dialogues, and the implementation of review recommendations. In the past two rounds of reviews, China’s National People’s Congress has a positive record in this regard, but it should play a more active role in ratifying or acceding to international human rights conventions.

Global Human Rights Governance in the United Nations Arena:China's Participation and Contribution

This paper expounds how China participates in and contributes to global human rights governance from the perspective of its participation in United Nations’ human rights affairs. For more than 70 years since the United Nations was founded, it has done a good deal of work in establishing the principles and standards for human rights, developing the connotation of human rights, setting up the international human rights treaty system, and reforming the specialized United Nations’ body on human rights, and so on. Since the United Nations was founded, China has been an active participant in and made important contributions to global human rights governance under the framework of the United Nations’ human rights conventions. It has contributed to the establishment of the principles and standards for human rights and the connotations of human rights. It has also actively joined international human rights treaties and conscientiously fulfilled its obligations.

United Nations and Human Rights

Charter and Universal Declaration Human rights problem has aroused serious concem from the international community. It was originated in the Second World War. Fascists of Germany, Italy and Japan committed genocide and crimes of killing innocents and it became a matter of worldwide concem to defend the right to life. The war between the anti-fascist alliance against the axis powers including Germany and Japan was in fact a war of protecting the dignity and rights of humanity and a war to defend human rights and for national independence. The programmatic document Charter of the Atlantic of the alliance during the war and the Declaration of the United Nations all clearly put forward the idea that defending human rights is

Human Rights NGOs and the United Nations Human Rights Council——Participation by the China Society for Human Rights Studies in the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism

Since its founding in 1993, the China Society for Human Rights Studies （CSHRS） has extensively participated inthe human rights work of the United Nations （UN） and has actively carried out international exchange and cooperation. In May 2012, the UN Human Rights Council （UNHRC） initiated the second round of country reviews on human rights.

Work in Cooperation for A New Chapter in the Cause of International Human Rights——Speech by Yang Jiechi,Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China at the Inaugural Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Mr Chairman, I would like to start by congratulating you, on behalf of the Chinese Govern- ment, on your assumption of the Chair of the inaugural session of the Human Rights Council. I have every confidence that under your able leadership this session will be successful.

The Development of the Concept of Human Rights in the United Nations

Introductory Remarks Nobody denies that the West was the cradle of the concept of human rights. Since the American and French revolutions of the end of the eigh- teenth century, the human rights were centered on the individual. Human rights were considered to be individual rights. However, within the expression ＂human rights,＂ the word ＂human,＂ meaning individual human beings, was during a rather long time understood in a rather narrow sense.

The Relationship between Human Rights and Development——A Brief Analysis of the Perspectives of Chinese Scholars and the Practice of Chinese Government

With the change and development of the concept of human rights, the thinking about the relationship between human rights and development is becoming more and more deeply. Under this background, the author profoundly realizes that both recognizing the economic development as the first priority like some developing countries do and considering the human rights to be the most important thing as most developed countries do are unilateral and harmful to the social progress. Human rights and development are interdependent and mutually promoting each other. This paper introduces the three main viewpoints of the relationship between human rights and development. Based on the changes of the attitudes of the UN and China to the relationship between human rights and development, this paper holds that though it is a great progress for the Chinese government to understand that human rights and development are interdependent, there are still lots of difficulties in realizing their mutually benefiting relationship in reality. These difficulties are due to the lack of professionals who enjoy good understandings of the rules for social development and are capable of practicing human rights theories. Therefore, the authors suggest that the promotion of human rights education is instrumental to the development and progress of human society.

Human Rights Education from the Perspective of the Holistic Development of the Children

Human rights education for primary and secondary school students is of great significance to their holistic development.At present,human rights education is actively carried out in China’s primary and secondary schools.Such human rights education includes classroom teaching based on the Ethics and the Rule of Law series of textbooks as well as developing hu man rights culture in campuses and educating students in human rights practices.Human rights education in primary and secondary schools has achieved certain results,but is as yet inade quate.In order to further improve human rights education for children,we should integrate hu man rights education with traditional Chinese culture,make better use of information technology and modem concepts of education and build a comprehensive and deep-seated human rights educa tion system.

Interplay of Human Rights and Development: The Implementation and Guarantee of Development after the Victory of the World War Ⅱ

Poverty affects social development and justice. It also deeply affects the realization of human rights, inclucing the right to development. The present unjust international order cannot solve poverty by means of human rights. Many developed countries avoid their obligation of dealing with poverty, denying the general realization and actionability of economic, social and development rights. Due to the position of these countries in the issues of human rights and development, many regions of the world were falling into the extremely poor state. The efforts by the United Nations are discounted in promoting the development and fighting against the poverty.

过渡司法:联合国和国际社会对系统性或大规模侵犯人权的回应

过渡司法最初是指一个国家由非民主体制过渡到民主体制后,对旧政府侵犯人权行为的处理。冷战结束和东欧剧变之后,这一概念又被用来指战争或冲突结束后,如何追究过去的种种暴行。近年来,一些发达国家政府对历史上受主流社会欺侮、压迫的群体采取的道歉与赔偿等补救措施,也被称之为过渡司法。联合国以及国际社会为此设计了多种机制,包括起诉、赔偿、真相调查、机构改革和人事清查等。总之,过渡司法就是对系统性或大规模人权侵犯的回应。过渡司法的精髓不在于提出某种本体论意义上特殊的正义/司法理念,而是要提供一种方法论,以调和正义理想与政治现实之间的张力,而且它强调的不是一种绝对的正义理念和一以贯之的司法模式。

国际体育运动中的人权问题研究

长期以来,国际体育运动中的人权一直是个被忽略的问题,而其也应当属于国际人权法研究的范围。体育权已被认为是一项人权,作为人权基础的自由、平等和不歧视同样可以被视为体育权的基础。儿童、妇女、残疾人等弱势群体参与体育运动的权利应当得到特殊的关照,而第三代人权则与参与体育运动的权利关系更为密切。联合国组织和国际奥委会在以上方面进行的合作促进了体育权的实现。

废除死刑之门——未成年人不判死刑原则及其在中国的确立与延伸

禁止对未成年人判处死刑是联合国《儿童权利公约》、《少年司法最低限度标准规则》、《公民权利与政治权利国际公约》等所确立的一项基本原则。自20世纪初以来,中国即开始了确立这一原则的努力,但直到1997年刑法典才实现了与这一原则的"无缝衔接"。考察未成年人不判死刑原则在中国确立的历程,至少有三点启示:第一,尽管艰难,但彻底废除死刑在中国仍具有实现的可能性;第二,从犯罪主体(强调其社会弱势群体特征)的角度废除死刑要比从罪行性质的角度入手,更具可行性,也更为平等和较少带来负面影响;第三,青年,尤其是年轻青年与未成年人有着诸多类似之处,可以而且应当首先将未成年人不判死刑规则延伸于这一群体,这也是避免误判不满18岁未成年人死刑的需要。

从《残疾人权利公约》反思国际人权机制

2007年3月起开放签字的《残疾人权利公约》是联合国体系在保护人权领域的最新努力。与以往的多数人权条约一样,《残疾人权利公约》列举了具体权利、构划了报告体制,同时通过任择议定书设计建立一套来文制度。这意味着在国际人权法上又添加了一套体制。虽然从权利保护发展本身看,这一公约的出现丰富了联合国体系的人权保护内容,但是从国际法治的理念上看,它是国际法不成体系的特征的继续与延伸,本质上不仅无益于国际法治的完善,而且有可能进一步提高国际法维护人权各个环节的成本。现阶段有必要考虑将包括人权、环境等领域的规范进行编纂,将相应机构进行整合,以推进国际法治的目标。

联合国准则与警察保障人权

保障人权是联合国公约中的一项重要内容 ,警察在国家刑事司法体制和政治体制中的重要性 ,决定了它必须对人权予以足够的保护。根据联合国准则的要求 ,本文从逮捕和羁押、无罪推定、沉默权、公民的待遇等多个方面对我国现行法律有关警察保障人权的规定进行了检讨 ,并提出改革建议。

“保护的责任”机制中的武力强制措施

"保护的责任"是一种人权保护新原则与国际机制,它为国际社会介入国内人权保护构想设计了全面的战略和诸多措施、方法。其中,一个极为特殊的措施是,国内人权保护问题被当作"国际和平与安全"问题,因而可以根据《联合国宪章》第七章由安理会授权进行武力干预。但是,武力措施与宪章规定的适用条件,以及与人权保护的复杂性与特殊性是不相适应的。所以,在原则上,"保护的责任"机制不应确立和实施武力强制措施。

国际法院与联合国核心人权公约的实施

联合国核心人权公约的实施不仅包括联合国人权条约机构在国际层面的监督及公约缔约国在国内层面的遵守,还包括促进公约实施的其他机制。国际法院在其所受理的案件中曾屡次涉及核心人权公约的解释和适用问题,本文旨在分析国际法院在促进核心人权公约实施方面做出的贡献和受到的限制,人权公约实施相关案件对国际法院自身裁判活动造成的影响,以及国际法院与其他人权公约实施监督机构的关系。

国际体育赛事中的人权责任与适用标准

国际体育赛事中频繁出现的人权争端对国际体育赛事的利益攸关方提出了挑战,但国际体育赛事中的人权责任不能仅仅归咎于体育组织,而应当由多方当事人组成的赛事组织共同承担。传统上解决体育争端的国际体育仲裁院并不是解决国际体育赛事中运动员人权争端以外的其他人权争端的合理机构。无论是国家法院、区域人权法院还是体育仲裁院处理人权争端,原则上都要将《联合国工商业和人权指导原则》作为衡量当事各方人权责任的标准,国际体育组织也应当在赛事的申办、筹办和主办过程中将该原则作为衡量当事各方遵守人权的标准之一。

环境人权在联合国系统之演进——联合国人权理事会第48/13号决议之评析

人权与环境存在相互依存、不可分割的关系,自1972年斯德哥尔摩会议以来,两者之间的关联在联合国系统受到普遍关注,但环境人权的创设却面临着诸多争议。五十年来,环境权逐渐在国家宪法法律层面、区域人权公约和环境公约层面、联合国主导的全球层面得到确认,这三个层面的法律渊源交互作用、彼此促进。环境权实证化的动力源主要在于各国的国内立法,并逐渐推动环境权在区域人权公约和环境公约层面、联合国主导的全球层面发展,从而形成一个类似同心圆结构的“差序格局”。联合国人权理事会第48/13号决议承认享有清洁、健康和可持续环境的权利是一项具有重要意义的人权。该决议第一次在全球层面正式承认环境人权,也标志着环境人权从派生性权利到独立权利的演进,具有里程碑式的意义。

人权指数的类型化研究

人权指数是对人权的量化监督,联合国、人权条约机构和各非政府组织经常在其实践中引入人权指数监测人权的实施。对人权指数可以进行类型化分析:根据是否以人权为主题,人权指数分为直接评估指数和间接评估指数;根据人权指数的编制技术,分为单一指数和聚合指数;根据人权指数使用的信息和数据来源,分为客观指数、主观指数和综合指数。联合国人权指标体系属于对人权的直接评估指数、聚合指数和综合指数,是人权指数建构的典范。人权指数类型化研究对构建中国人权指数具有重要意义和启示。中国人权指数的设计应当以中国人权话语为基础,反映中国人权话语体系中的核心概念。

构建联合国工商业与人权条约的规范路径选择与实现悖论

在联合国层面制定工商业与人权条约是近几年来国际社会在工商业与人权领域进行“硬法”规制的重要探索。从规范的效用逻辑来看,构建国际人权规范的路径通常包含影响管控和损害补救两种方式。与传统国际人权文书制定路径不同,工商业与人权条约草案历经多轮谈判修订后日益呈现出浓厚的“损害补救主义”色彩,意图构建“跨国司法补救”体系,其背后的决定因素包括支持条约起草的发展中国家的求偿诉求、国际人权法体系难以直接为工商企业设立人权保障义务的理论屏障、自愿规范的低效性导致的强化“硬法”约束趋势以及破除国家保护主义等深层次原因。工商业与人权条约的谈判过程客观上促进了国际社会对以《工商企业与人权:实施联合国“保护、尊重和补救”框架指导原则》为代表的“软法”规范的反思适用,使得国家日渐重视企业供应链人权尽责国内立法和工商业人权影响的国际规制,同时也对条约谈判进程本身提供了改进反馈和机会。鉴于此,我国在主动投入工商业与人权的国际治理、积极而审慎地参与条约谈判的同时,也应加快构建我国工商业与人权尽责规范体系和多方治理体系。