Hu Yuhong: The right to personal development can be divided into three categories

Editor's note: Human development encompasses both all-round development and free development. Hu Yuhong, dean and professor of the Institute of Human Rights at East China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out at the "First China-Latin America Human Rights Roundtable" that from the perspective of people's livelihood, individual development rights can be divided into three categories: basic rights, supportive rights and guaranteed rights.

As a new type of human right, the right to development is not only related to people's livelihood and proper existence in daily life, but also closely related to their ability to realize their individual potential and self-worth in society. In the past, people often despised or even rejected the "collective human rights" nature of the right to development, because it seemed that when it came to the rights of the state and the nation, it deviated from the fundamental characteristics of human rights. However, on the one hand, although the right to development can refer to the development of a country or nation, this does not mean that the right to development cannot become an individual right while being a collective right. Indeed, article 1 of the Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 4 December 1986, clearly states: "The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every person and all peoples have the right to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development." In this development, all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized". In it, "everyone" is juxtaposed with "peoples", and it is clearly identified that the individual is the subject of the right to development. On the other hand, the development of the individual clearly exists in the self-practice of the individual and is also integrated into the development process of society. If people want to realize their own needs and show their self-worth, they can only rely on the means of development; In addition to relying on the efforts of individuals and the resources of families, this kind of development also requires the cooperation of society and the support of the state. The repeated use of the phrase "all peoples and all individuals" in the Declaration is to prevent the substitution of the abstract "people" for the real "individual", thus highlighting the human rights characteristic of the right to development as an individual. The importance of human development has always been the theme of discussion among thinkers, and it has been most clearly and unambiguously expressed in Marx's theory of comprehensive and free development. Marx clearly stated in Capital that the future society that replaces capitalist society is a "social form based on the comprehensive and free development of every human being". And "the full and free development of each individual" means that "every individual can freely and fully develop his creative talents, his own essential strengths, potentials and personalities in all areas for which he is willing to give full play to his talents and personality according to his own interests, wishes and hobbies". It can be seen that the comprehensive and free development of human beings includes two aspects that are different but interrelated, namely, all-round development and free development. The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government have inherited the concept of Marxist classical doctrine and creatively regarded all-round human development as the fundamental goal of social development. In the literature of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, promoting the all-round development of people is the summary of the historical experience of reform and opening up, and better promoting the all-round development of people is the purpose of deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions. The all-round development of people is not only a concrete embodiment of the people-centered development philosophy, but also the "starting point and end point of all work" of the party and the country. Of course, there is no doubt that the right to development is a human right that can be exercised and enjoyed by individuals, but there is still great room for discussion on how to position the right to development with individuals as the subject. The task of this paper is mainly based on the construction of the right to individual development in the field of people's livelihood in the new era of China, so we will summarize it from the following three dimensions: the basic rights of individual development, including the right to education and the right to health; supportive rights for personal development, cultural rights and participation rights; The right to personal development is mainly embodied in the right to social security.

Fundamental rights to personal development

The so-called fundamental rights refer to the foundational rights that are indispensable in the development of the individual. In other words, without these rights, people will not be able to nurture their individuality and develop their abilities, let alone express themselves and realize themselves on the big stage of society. In our view, basic rights are mainly embodied in two aspects: one is the right to education, which is related to the intrinsic quality of legal subjects; The second is the right to health, which involves the physical fitness of the subject of the law. Without a healthy body, it is impossible for people to fully realize their potential and reflect their own value. Therefore, quality and constitution constitute the core content of the basic rights of personal development. (i) The right to educationAmong the various rights to development, the right to education is undoubtedly the most important. The reason why it is important is that the knowledge and experience necessary for life need to be acquired through education. However, the acquisition of knowledge and the development of individuals are inseparable from the subjective efforts of individuals, but they are also inseparable from the support and assistance of the state. In other words, in order to realize citizens' right to education, it is necessary to provide educational conditions and resources provided by the state, and the core issue is educational equity. It includes both the requirement of equity in educational qualifications, such as the ability of all school-age children to receive compulsory education from the State, as well as the equity of educational conditions and resources. It should be noted that people's livelihood is a process in which a person has to manage his or her life and plan his or her livelihood throughout his or her life, so the right to education does not only exist in the process of young people receiving education. To this end, it is necessary to expand access to education so that all people, whether they are teenagers or young adults, are middle-aged or old, have the right to receive education in order to continuously acquire new knowledge and skills. (2) The right to healthIf the right to education is to enhance the internal quality of the individual for his or her development and to provide spiritual motivation for his subsequent development, then the right to health is to provide the development of the individual with medical and health guarantees from the State in terms of life, physique, psychology and mental state. Naturally, "each person is the first person responsible for his or her own health", but whether people can achieve health is closely related to the active actions of the state. It is for this reason that the right to health has come to the fore as an important part of the rights to people's livelihood. The meaning and function of the right to health are evident in the development of the individual. If survival is clearly related to health, then there can be no survival without health, and there is naturally no personal development. Not only that, health is not only physical health, but also includes psychological, social and other factors. It can be seen that a healthy person can not only maintain the strength and vitality of the body, but also have a healthy mind and the physical and mental ability to adapt to the social environment. "The Chinese government adheres to the principle of putting people first, governing for the people, and putting the protection of people's health rights and interests in an important position"; General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to people's health issues, and in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he made a special discussion on "promoting the construction of a healthy China".

Supportive rights for personal development

Different from the basic rights of personal development, such as the right to education and the right to health, the supportive rights of personal development mainly refer to the relevant opportunities and platforms provided by the state and society, and the necessary encouragement and protection, so that people can better develop their potential in life and demonstrate their abilities with the support of systems, policies and laws, so as to better shape and develop themselves. In this regard, the right to culture and the right to participation are represented as supportive rights for personal development. (1) Cultural rightsThe realization of cultural rights requires the state to provide resources and platforms for people to participate in cultural activities, and it is also necessary to determine policies and laws that encourage and protect people's creativity and innovation, but cultural rights are more directly directed to the fact that people can improve themselves, develop themselves and realize their own value through independent academic creation and technological innovation. We agree with Norway's scholars' generalization of cultural rights, that is, according to article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, cultural rights can be broken down into four main rights, namely: (1) the right to participate in cultural life; (2) the right to enjoy the benefits arising from scientific progress and its applications; (3) the author has the right to enjoy protection for the moral and material interests arising from any scientific, literary or artistic work of his own; and (4) the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activities. From the above provisions, it is not difficult to see that cultural rights have two aspects: the right to benefit and the right to act. (2) The right to participateParticipation refers to participating in relevant public affairs, expressing one's own views, putting forward one's own demands, and thus influencing public decision-making. No member of society wants to be just a passive recipient of laws, policies, plans, plans, and decisions, especially when it comes to personal interests. It is for this reason that "the right to participation is a well-known concept in international human rights law and is recognized as a central cornerstone for the realization of the right to development". In the author's view, the importance of the right to participation in the right to development can be explained by the following reasons: First, participation embodies a positive attitude towards life, which is also the psychological basis for the development of the individual. Second, participation enables people to gain knowledge and experience from society, which in turn brings new opportunities for their own development. Moreover, the active participation of individuals in social affairs is not only conducive to the development of individuals, but also contributes to the overall development of society. Extensive public participation not only enhances people's ability to develop themselves, but also provides institutional support for the rational and efficient operation of society. Of course, there are still several important issues that must be reaffirmed in order for the right to participation to be implemented: first, participation must be on an equal footing; Second, participation must be the norm; Third, participation must be effective.

Guaranteed rights to personal development

Personal development is inseparable from subjective efforts and objective conditions, and is also related to whether there is a practical guarantee. These safeguards necessary for the development of the individual can be broadly expressed in terms of social security, and thus the concept of the right to social security is implicit in the right to individual development. If people are constantly worried about their personal safety, the safety of their homes, or the fear of being plundered of their hard-earned property, then this is a lack of security. In such a social environment, people are often in a state of panic, and naturally there is no talk of self-development. Safety is a fundamental value of the law, which provides a set of rules according to which people can behave accordingly, and by acting according to the rules, people can achieve the desired outcome without fear of unintended outcomes. Not only that, but security is raised to the point of the highest value, such as Hobbes's unequivocal assertion that "the security of the people is the supreme law"; Radbruch also placed security at the forefront of the hierarchy of legal values, stressing: "Justice is the second mission of the legal power, and the first mission of the law is legal security, that is, peace." "This emphasis on safety is no accident. In the past, there has been a greater focus on security at the national level, such as territorial security; or the security of personal existence, such as freedom from want. However, security, as a basic human need, inevitably requires the ability to live in peace and seek self-development on this basis. For "if individuals feel that their future is better secured, then they can see their society as the guarantor of their security, and they feel obliged to do their part in the process of making this society continue." In fact, the law exists to provide security for people. The reliability and certainty of the law ensure the guidance and predictability of the law, so that people can have reasonable expectations about the results of individual actions, and will not be at a loss under the vagaries of orders and instructions; The law guarantees peace in society through permanent institutions, so that acts that endanger human security can be punished by law. In short, the law maintains a safe social environment, on which people can shape, express and develop themselves.