Public Law Studies Quarterly

The International Responsibility of the Chinese ‎Government for the Covid-19 Pandemic‎

Document Type : Article

Authors

Abbasali Kadkhodaei 1
Sasan Yousefi 2

1 Prof., Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student in Public International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2021.320791.2724
Abstract
The outbreak of the Corona Virus in China has led to a global pandemic which caused adverse effects on economic, social and humanitarian aspects of the international community. The statute of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Health Regulations (IHR) approved in 2005 are two main legal instruments aimed at preventing, responding and controlling widespread infectious diseases. These instruments oblige WHO members to notify and inform the organization about the outbreak of infectious diseases without delay and in the most efficient way. Since the right to health and the right to life, two fundamental human rights, are endangered by a pandemic, it seems that timely notification by the origin country has become a customary rule, which is reflected in United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Chinese government as a party to the above-mentioned instruments has violated its treaty and non-treaty obligations by not informing the WHO of the outbreak, as well as threatening those who tried to do so. Therefore, its international responsibility can be invoked, which will be examined in this paper. The possibility of filing a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice will also be analyzed.

Keywords

international ‎responsibility
COVID-19 ‎pandemic
‎ epidemic diseases
‎ International Health ‎Regulations
‎ Statute of the World Health ‎Organization.‎

  1. English

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    2. Aginam, O. (2002), “International law and communicable diseases”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 80, pp 946-951.
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    8. Constitution of the World Health Organization
    9. International Health Regulations (2005)
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    11. statute of the international court of justice
    12. the role of the international court of justice
    13. UNICEF GLOBAL COVID-19 Situation Report, No. 12 September 2020

     

    1. C) Cases
    2. ICJ, Alleged Violations of the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights (Islamic Republic of Iran v United States of America), 2018
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    4. ICJ, Legality of the Use by a State of Nuclear Weapons in Armed Conflict (Request for Advisory Opinion by the World Health Organization(,1995

     

    References In Persian:

    1. A) Books
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    1. B) Articles
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Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 53, Issue 1
Spring 2023
Spring 2023
Pages 1-19

  • Receive Date 07 April 2021
  • Revise Date 06 October 2021
  • Accept Date 19 December 2021

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