Journal of Right to Development

Preface

This journal originated from “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law” edited by us over the past ten years. In order to focus on thestudies on theright todevelopment as a basic human right,on the occasion of the tenth anniversary, the titlewill be changed to“Journal ofthe Right to Development”!

Peace, development and human rights are the three pillars of the United Nations. In times of relative peace, development and human rights are even more important. According to the statistics of the United Nations, among the more than 7 billion people in the world, more than 1 billion people still live in extreme poverty, and their daily disposable income is less than 1.9 US dollars, the international absolute poverty line defined by the United Nations. Throughout the world, the development gap between the North and the South is growing, and human rights are faced with severe challenges from poverty, hunger, disease, unrest, conflicts, disasters, trade protectionism, unilateralism, terrorism and many other factors. Domestically, the problem of unbalanced, unequal and unsustainable development has seriously troubled all countries, especially the southern countries on a global scale. The realization of the right to development has become an urgent task for the international community. In order to achieve fair, balanced and people-oriented sustainable development, the global community should cooperate sincerely, move forwardtogether,share successful experiences with each other, and jointly advance the theoretical research and practice of the right to development.

As the largest developing country in the world, China has created a world miracle of economic development through 40 years of reform and opening up, and achieved great success in the theoretical research and practical results of the right to development. When the history of rings enters a new era, the main social contradiction is undergoing profound changes. The contradiction between the people’s need for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate development has brought new hope and opportunities for the theoretical innovation and practical development of the right to development. In order to seize development opportunities and effectively respond to challenges, China has carried out comprehensive and lasting institutional reforms in a timely manner, strengthened human rights construction by comprehensively implementingthe rule of law, committed to building a human rights discourse system with Chinese characteristics, actively participated in global human rights governance, promoted development through cooperation, promoted human rights through development. The jurisprudence of human rights tells us that the issue of development is essentially a human rights issue, and the rule of law is the foundation of human rights, and human rights are thebaseof the rule of law. It can be seen that development, human rights and the rule of law are like a troika. They go hand in hand and are interrelated, and the resultant force is far greater than the simple sum of the three. Based on this consideration, 10 years ago, after repeated planning and argumentation, we edited and published the academic journal “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law”, combining development, human rights and the rule of law for research. To date, several volumes have been published in succession, each focusing relatively on one theme, exploring human rights in development and their safeguards under the rule of law. The details are as follows: “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - A Perspective of Regional Development”, 2011; “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Development Dilemma and Innovation in Social Management”, 2012; “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - The Cultural Justification of ‘The Rule of Law in China’”, 2013; “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Research on the Integration of the Rule of Law State, Government and Society under the Rule of Law”, 2014; “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Strengthening the Judicial Protection of Human Rights, 2015; Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - New DevelopmentPhilosophy and China’s Right to Development Protection and the 30th Anniversary of the Adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, 2016-2017; “Studies on Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Legal Protection of Human Rights in the New Era, 2018”.

In order to highlight the right to development, a characteristic of Chinese human rights, and comprehensively promote the in-depth development of research on human rights and development issues, on the basis of soliciting opinions and suggestions from various perspectives, starting from 2020, we will make major adjustments to thisjournal: we have changed the title to “Journal of the Right to Development”. In addition to the Chinese version, the English version will also be published by the European Research Center of Institute for Human Rights Law of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

The purpose of thejournalof“Journal of the Right to Development” is to adhere to the basic principle of combining the universality andspeciality of human rights, stick to the path of rule of law with Chinese characteristics in human rights, insist the people’s dominant position and people-centered development, and take the right to subsistence and the right to development as the primary basichuman rights, in the spirit of rationality and science, study theoretical difficulties, pay attention to practical hotspots, persist in problem orientation, promote dialogue and exchanges, prosper academic research, and boost practical development.

As far as the scope of topics is concerned, this journal takes the right to development as the main thread, and comprehensively studies human rights issues in development, covering various human rights and the practice of the rule of law. This is based on the following considerations: First, from the perspective of international norms, the right to development is not a closed and isolated human right. In fact, all human rights are an interconnected and inseparable organic unity. Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development states: “The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.” Based on this, “Journal of the Right to Development” will take the right to development as the core, and conduct systematic and in-depth research on the jurisprudence, values, concepts, systems, norms and practices of the right to development. At the same time, it is not limited to a narrow understanding of the right to development, but adheres to the open attitude adopted by the Declaration, takes development and human rights as the main axis, it radiates to various fields of economic, social, cultural, ecological rights, civil rights and political rights. Second, from a logical point of view, the “development path based on human rights” and the “human rights path based on development” are both theoretical paths to interpret the dual interaction between development and human rights. Although there are differences in value and understanding in different human rights cultural contexts, at least in the United Nations system, these two paths have been placed under the perspective of the right to development, and have been valued and put into practice. Therefore, this journal adopts a broad understanding method, which not only conducts special analysis and interpretation based on the concept of the right to development itself, reveals the internal aspects of the right to development, but also devotes itself to discussing the external aspects of the right to development, and looks at the relationship between the right to development and other the interrelationship of human rights. Third, from the perspective of practice samples, the practice of developing countries has proved the unique value of the right to development and its inseparability from other human rights. Only when the right to development is understood in the interaction of all human rights can the right to development be truly realized. As far as China is concerned, as the largest developing country in the world, Deng Xiaoping proposed more than 40 years ago thatdevelopment is the absolute principle. Today, development is still China’s top priority. China has established a human rights system with the right to development as its primary human right, laying the foundation for the coordinated development of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Many developing countries have achieved rare practical results in the protection of the right to development, which are worthy of refinement and exchange. Therefore, it is also an important purpose of this journal to build an experience sharing platform and promote mutual consultation, co-construction and sharing. This journal will uphold the open attitude of inclusiveness, study the issue of the right to development from an international perspective, and promote dialogue and interaction between Chinese academia and the international community. By strengthening academics, we will promote the inclusive development of human rights, especially the theory of the right to development, in a multicultural context.

Special thanks to the China Society for Human Rights Studies for their strong guidance! Thanks for the support of the United Nations MechanismforRight to Development! Thanks for the support of the publishing community. Whether it is from the positioning of the journal, the formal determination of the title, as well as the organization and editing of manuscripts, they all benefit from their wisdom and dedication!

It is worth noting that, just as the right to development is a young and controversial human right in the international community, although the founding of this journal is the result of the efforts and dedication of a group, it must have many deficiencies. More attention and continuous improvement are required. We sincerely hope that experts and readers will cooperate with each other and share their wisdom, so as to jointly contribute to the right to development and even the cause of human rights!

Each volume of this journal focuses on one topic andcombined with the rest.

Wang Xigen^*

（^*Dean of Law School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Director of National Human Rights Education and Training Base·Institute for Human Rights Law of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.）