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Memo: A Suggestion of HRJ Typology
Based on our review of Taiwan’s state reports under the six UN human rights conventions it has ratified or domesticated (ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD, CEDAW, CRPD, CRC), we identify three distinct patterns of human rights justification (HRJ) in the State’s responses to allegations of rights violations, grounded in the dichotomy between State action and inaction (Types…
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Normalizing the Exception: Pandemic Governance, Data Use, and Human Rights in Taiwan Multi-layered Crises, Mobilized Solidarity and Stringent Measures
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Geopolitical Tensions, Rise of a “Digital Democracy” and Human Rights Implications
Due to the unique geopolitical relationship between Taiwan and China, Taiwan’s isolated status as a non-member State of the World Health Organisation (WHO), its geographic isolation, and its experience with the 2003 SARS outbreak, the Taiwanese government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing strict border controls and extensive contact tracing measures, even though it…
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Institutional Human Rights Protection without a UN-membership: Taiwan’s Domestication of International Human Rights Law
This memo examines the mechanisms through which Taiwan, as a non-Member State of the United Nations, protects human rights, including domestic judicial review and the voluntary implementation of international human rights conventions. Not only does the voluntary nature of Taiwan’s commitment render its binding force vulnerable, it also results in a lack of accountability when…
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Polarization, Party Line and Taiwan’s dilemma under the shadow of China: Unified government with weak parliamentary oversight or divided government paralyzed by political showdowns?
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Inclusive Democracy, Reflecting Gender and Intersectionality, The Rings-on-Water methodology and the Complex Intersectional Critique as a single, mutually anchored
Deliverable 7.5 responds to the Horizon Europe Grant Agreement’s request for a report on Inclusive Democracy, reflecting gender and intersectionality. The deliverable is composed of two mutually anchored component studies. D 7.5-A develops the Rings-on-Water (RoW) methodology through which HRJust conducted civil-society engagement across Sweden and Taiwan, and articulates the epistemological warrant that grounds that methodology…
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EU Migration Governance: Competences, Human Rights Justifications and the Internal-External Divide
Three main conclusions are drawn from this overview. First, the EU has broad and flexible powers in migration, which gives political actors significant room to act, especially in times of crisis, with only limited control from the courts. Second, human rights justifications play a limited role in EU migration measures. Human rights are often mentioned as general…
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A Normative Core for a Geopolitical Europe
As the global geopolitical map is being redrawn and the norms that have guided international relations are being challenged, Europe is changing and adapting. Refocusing attention on economy, security and defence is a necessity, as is ensuring greater flexibility in how EU engages with regional and national partners across the globe. As of yet, it…
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The EU’s Role – Globally, Multilaterally, Internally – as a Human Rights Actor (in the Face of State HRJ Practices)
This report explores the role of the EU as a human rights promoter, including its ability to monitor and control the legitimacy of the use of human rights justifications by state actors. Broadly, the EU’s activities in human rights governance can be described in three layers. First and most obviously, the EU is able to…
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Report on the Concept of “Related Notions”
In the area of climate change, we have found a noteworthy trend of States having recourse to arguments that are not strictly human rights-based but rely on notions that are connected to human rights. Examples of such notions in connection with climate change include sustainable development, the protection of health, the welfare state, intergenerational equity,…
Intersect Observatory
The project’s research library. Here you can explore all HRJust publications, reports, and key findings on States use of human rights justifications.