Research On State Responsibility For The Damage Of Major Infectious Diseases

In the long history,major public health emergencies such as infectious diseases have been a major threat to human life safety and health,and one of the main enemies of human survival and development.Historically,different countries have been hit by pandemics,but there are no rules or precedents under international law to hold the country where an epidemic was discovered or originated.In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic,some countries have advocated "China bears responsibility",which has turned state responsibility for damage caused by major infectious diseases into a reality.The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether it is realistic to assume state responsibility for the damage caused by the epidemic of major infectious diseases,and to clarify the relevant impact and improvement suggestions on China based on the current national position and practice of China.This article mainly through five parts to elaborate.In the first part,the author defines the major infectious diseases from the definition and judgment criteria of major infectious diseases at home and abroad,and makes clear the transnational damage of major infectious diseases.The second part analyzes the two forms of state liability and the legal basis of state liability for the damage of major infectious diseases.The third part mainly discusses the difficulties in the identification of state responsibility for the damage caused by the epidemic of major infectious diseases,including the analysis of the principle of imputability and constituent elements.In the fourth part,the author analyzes the application of exemption conditions of state liability for serious infectious disease epidemic damage,including the controversial places in such exemption grounds as force majeure,emergency and danger.The fifth part gives suggestions on how to deal with the damage caused by major infectious diseases in China.Through the above analysis,the author finally draws the following conclusions:First of all,it is necessary to make it clear that the state liability for damage caused by the epidemic of major infectious diseases includes the liability caused by internationally wrongful acts and acts not prohibited by international law,both of which are of the same nature and should be assumed by the state for breach of obligations.Secondly,the challenge to the system of state responsibility caused by the special transboundary damage caused by the epidemic of major infectious diseases mainly includes two aspects: on the one hand,the identification of illegal elements in state responsibility caused by international wrongful acts;On the other hand,the identification of causality in state responsibility caused by acts not prohibited by international law.Therefore,the author believes that the current national identification of the liability for damage caused by major infectious diseases is still limited to the theoretical level,at least in the current stage,there is no comprehensive prospect of realization.This is a new subject to be further studied and solved.I hope this paper can provide a meaningful starting point for the academic circles to explore this issue and related practice.