Research On Human Rights Derogation In Response To Major Public Health Events

During the COVID-19 pandemic,some types of human rights have been restricted by COVID-19 prevention and control measures,resulting in fierce rights conflicts.As major countries in the world,China and the United States have adopted completely different prevention and control policies in the face of the novel coronavirus,so whether rights should be restricted in the face of major public health emergencies and the way and extent of rights restrictions have become a controversial topic.The restriction on human rights is mainly through the international human rights law and the domestic law of each country.In terms of international human rights law,the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights clearly stipulates the system of derogation,which stipulates that the rights to freedom of person,freedom of movement,freedom of religious belief,freedom of expression,freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association may be derogated from for the sake of public health security.According to the Convention on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights,human rights restrictions are intended to promote the achievement of total social welfare,and the restrictions imposed should not be inconsistent with the nature of economic,social and cultural rights.In the aspect of domestic law,most countries have stipulated the limitation of rights in principle in the Constitution,and detailed the specific limitation of rights in the department law.In view of the limitation of rights in major public health events,our government forms laws and regulations of public health emergency management with constitution,law,administrative regulations and local regulations as the main contents.In major public health events,the legalization of human rights restrictions in line with the human Rights Law should be appropriately derogated,because the purpose of human rights restrictions is to safeguard the two superior human rights values of the right to life and the right to health,and the prevention and control measures taken in the COVID-19 epidemic are in line with the Chinese view of human rights with the right to survival and development as the primary human rights.Of course,strict epidemic prevention and control measures will inevitably lead to serious conflicts with the right to life,health and other types of rights,including the right to personal freedom,the right to privacy of personal information,the right to survival and the right to development.Therefore,in the face of a longer period of epidemic prevention and control,epidemic prevention in accordance with the law is particularly important.When taking epidemic prevention measures,administrative subjects and entrusted or authorized subjects should act in accordance with the principle of the supremacy of life,the principle of legality,the principle of proportionality,the principle of non-discrimination and other rights conflict resolution principles,and try their best to minimize the negative impact of restrictive measures on individual rights.In the face of COVID-19,China has adopted a nationwide model that prioritizes the right to life and health,reflecting China’s concept of human rights development that puts the people first and life first,with the rights to survival and development as the primary human rights,while the United States is responding to COVID-19 in a decentralized mode of political struggle,politicizing public health issues and putting economic and political gains above life and health.Different attitudes towards the epidemic and different economic,livelihood and social policies have resulted in different effects on the protection of human rights.In the face of western politicization of China’s epidemic prevention and control policy,China should improve the construction and elaboration of the human rights concept with the rights to survival and development as the primary rights in the human rights system in the new era.In the face of the shortcomings revealed in the prevention and control of the epidemic,China should strengthen the construction of the rule of law in public health emergency response.On the one hand,we should formulate the Law on Response to Public Health Emergencies.On the other hand,we should be prudent in implementing restrictive measures in accordance with the law,so as to form a scientific,reasonable and effective management model for public health emergencies.