1. History

 

The Southwest University of Political Science and Law developed from the Southwest People’s Revolutionary University, which was founded in 1950. Based on the former university and the law departments of Sichuan University, Chongqing University, Guizhou University, Yunnan University and Chongqing Finance and Economics College, the Southwest College of Political Science and Law was established. In 1978, the State Council gave it permission to enroll students, designating it a national key college or university. In 1979, the college started to enroll students in pursuit of the master of law. The college was among the first group of colleges and universities in the country to offer master’s degree programs. In 1993, the college was designated by the State Council Degree Committee as a higher-learning institution that could offer doctoral degree education. In 1995, the college was renamed as the Southwest University of Political Science and Law. The university has trained a large number of excellent professionals for the country. A total of 21 alumni have been appointed national-level justices, including Chief Justice Zhou Qiang of the Supreme People’s Court, and First-degree Justice Liu Jixing, who is chief justice of the Military Court of the People’s Liberation Army. A total of 12 alumni have been appointed national prosecutors, including First-degree Prosecutor Hu Zejun, who is deputy procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. Through its development over the past six decades, the university has become a comprehensive humanities university with a focus on legal education, together with coordinated development of various disciplines.

 

The university is one of the universities that has conducted human rights education and research in China, with a long history of human rights education and research as well as related experience. In the early 1990s, the older generation of legal experts, represented by Prof. Li Guozhi and Prof. Lu Yun, started research and teaching on human rights theory, providing special seminars on human rights law and training the prominent human rights theorists Zhou Wei, Du Wanhua, Zhuo Zeyuan, Fu Zitang and Zhang Yonghe.

 

In October 1991, Zhang Yonghe wrote a master’s thesis on human rights protection. This was one of China’s first degree theses on human rights and came before the publication of China’s first White Paper on Human Rights.

 

In 1991, Prof. Li Guozhi led graduate students and young teachers to systematically study human rights remarks in classic Marxist-Leninist works, participating in research and verification work at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in connection with China’s first human rights white paper. They published Essentials of Marxist Human Rights Theory in 1992.[page]

 

In 2000, the university established the Justice and Human Rights Research Center, the Foreign Family Law Center, the Women’s Theory Research Center and five other academic institutions specializing in human rights education and research.

 

In October 2011, complying with the requirements of the nation’s human rights strategy and plan, and in the spirit of coordinated innovation, the university decided to transform the seven research institutions into the Human Rights Education and Research Center of the Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

 

The center now has floor space of 1,070 square meters, with a collection of 10,000 books, including more than 1,000 foreign-language books.

 

2. Organization and Capacity[page]

 

University President Fu Zitang serves as the director of the center, and Prof. Zhang Yonghe is executive director of the center, which has six research offices, four task forces and 18 full-time employees.

 

The center has formulated management methods related to development expenses, management of researchers and academic results, etc., establishing regulations and management rules, and ensuring the institutionalized and standardized operation of the center. The center upholds the concept of “returning to the human rights classics and paying attention to human rights realities.” It has developed its own advantages and special characteristics, training a politically correct, down-to-earth and academically rigorous team of researchers, and becoming a human rights education and research institution that serves the nation’s human rights strategy.

 

 

The center has always held to the policy of using empirical evidence in the service of human rights, promoting human rights concepts through action, and training professionals through education. After many years of construction and accumulation of experience, the center has made great achievements in human rights research, the popularization of human rights concepts, and human rights education.

 

1. Academic Research

 

Since 2000, the center has published more than 120 academic books on human rights research. This has greatly boosted human rights research in China. In 2012, the center launched the China Human Rights Review book series; eight books have already been published and five others are set to be published.

 

The center publishes the academic journal China Human Rights Review, which has already published three issues and will publish the fourth soon.

 

The center has produced more than 370 academic papers, with 200 papers published in key journals. The doctoral dissertation by Sun Changyong, Research on the Right of Silence, was honored as one of the nation’s 100 best doctoral dissertations.[page]

 

Prof. Zhang Yonghe led a survey of the Chinese public on human rights concepts; it was included in the Human Rights Blue Book in 2013, attracting wide attention in society. Xinhua wrote in a commentary that it was the first survey of human rights concepts among the general public in China and the largest survey of its kind in history. In October 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council dispatched a universal periodic review team to conduct its second country review in China. Ata sidelines meeting organized by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, which obtained consultative status from the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the Chinese delegation presented some statistics and views related to the survey.

 

The center has undertaken more than 30 national, provincial or ministerial research projects, some of which have stimulated related legislation.

 

The center has two characteristics:

 

(1) Sticking to political correctness and focusing on Marxist human rights theory.

 

The university has strength in research on Marxist human rights theory. Starting in 1979, the university launched a course entitled Research on Marxist Legal Thought. In 1983, Chen Xueming, among the first group of graduate students, wrote a thesis on Marx's early views on legal philosophy and Marx’s legal thought, which was published in the China Journal of Social Sciences.

 

In 1992, Li Guozhi and Fu Zitang published Summary of Marxist Human Rights Theory. In the same year, Fu Zitang wrote a paper on the analysis of Leninist human rights theory, which was published in Modern Law.

 

In 2012, Fu Zitang compiled Marxist Human Rights Theory and Practice, which deepened the sinicization, modernization and popularization of research on Marxist human rights theory.[page]

 

The university organized dozens of professors to complete the work, Interpretation of the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015), which is the first academic publication that comprehensively explains the National Human Rights Action Plan.

 

Campus of Southwest University of Political Science and Law

 

(2) Relying on empirical studies of human rights and serving national human rights strategic decision making.

 

The center has always paid great attention to empirical studies of human rights, exploiting the advantages of its academic resources and conducting grassroots surveys. Empirical evidence has shown the latest developments in human rights protection in China and issues that should be addressed to better ensure human rights. The studies have been significant to decision making. Some research results have attracted attention from the central leadership and have helped stimulate legislation in related areas. Those empirical studies mainly concern human rights issues involving people’s livelihood, judicial protection of human rights and rights protection for ethnic minorities.[page]

 

First, human rights issues related to people’s livelihood.

 

The center has conducted research on the stability of outbound migrants from the Three Gorges Dam, research on legal issues related to geological calamities triggered by large or mid-size reservoirs, research on aiding and protecting the rights of orphans and disabled children, research on reform and improvement of the letters and visits system, surveys on farmers’ views about agricultural reform, research on related issues about land consolidation in Chongqing, surveys on human rights concepts of the Chinese public and research on basic rights protection for left-behind children. In 2010, Prof. Yuan Lin, a research fellow at the center, submitted a proposal about legislation concerning aiding and protecting the rights of orphans and disabled children and a proposal to increase fiscal budgets for aiding orphans and disabled children to the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. After instructions from a State Council leader and research by related ministries, the General Office of the State Council issued in November 2010 an opinion on strengthening work related to ensuring the rights of orphans. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance issued a notice about payment of basic living allowances for orphans, which has played an important role in improving the orphan aid system.[page]

 

Lao Haocai, president of the China Society for Human rights Studies, is visiting the center

 

Second, research on rights protection for ethnic minorities.

 

The center pays great attention to issues concerning rights protection for ethnic minorities in China’s western region, conducting many national and provincial or ministerial key projects, such as projects related to legal reform and rights protection in areas with a large ethnic minority population, traditional cultures of ethnic minorities and modern legal construction, research on implementation of the Law of Regional National Autonomy, and the legal culture of pluralism: Yi customary law. Researchers from the center have gone to Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan and Qinghai for investigation and research, producing a series of academic results. The research on legal reform and rights protection in areas with a large ethnic minority population was accepted by the Supreme People’s Court as advice.

 

Third, research on judicial protection for human rights.

 

In the field of judicial protection for human rights, the center has conducted research on lawsuit-related letters and visits, reform and improvement of the letters and visits system, research on sentencing and sentencing standardization, research on reform of the jury system, research on judicial mediation and research on judicial issues triggered by natural disasters, publishing Dayi Mediation, Wuhou Jury, and Lawsuit-related Letters and Visits in Changxian County. The research on sentencing and sentencing standardization was accepted by the Supreme People’s Court as advice.[page]

 

2. Human Rights Education and Training

 

(1) Professional training and educational improvement

 

The university has exerted itself in establishing a human rights curriculum and spreading human rights knowledge. Since 2002, the university has launched undergraduate courses in human rights law and the human rights legal system. Six full-time teachers at the center regularly teach courses on human rights law, with about 2,000 students enrolling each year. In 2011, the interactive course on the human rights legal system was appraised by the Chongqing municipal education authorities as an excellent course.

 

Since 2008, there have been 38 doctoral dissertations on human rights and 496 master’s theses.

 

(2) Social training for social results

 

The center has organized many human rights training programs for 8,600 civil servants, primary and middle school teachers and social workers.

 

Since 2007, such human rights training programs for society have been no fewer than 40 each year, with a peak in 2013 of 78. From December 2011 to April 2012, the center trained 600 civil servants in the Nanxi District of Yibin City in human rights knowledge. In 2012, the center offered training classes on human rights and law enforcement to 860 law-enforcement officers in Henan Province. In addition, the center trained workers from the legal work office and courts of Fanyu, Guangdong Province; the courts and procuratorates of Qujing, Lincang and Chenggong, Yunnan Province; and civil servants, legal workers and social workers from Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province.[page]

 

The center pays great attention to cultivating human rights teachers through international cooperation. Cooperating with European countries and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the center has organized training programs for human rights teachers at Western universities and training programs for international humanitarian law teachers; more than 40 teachers from 20 colleges or universities have attended.

 

(3) Citizen schools for exploration of human rights education

 

Since May 2013, the center has established 17 citizen schools in cities, with more than 3,000 volunteers.

 

Such citizen schools have organized activities such as open legal classes and legal popularization in communities, handing out 50,000 legal knowledge pamphlets, offering 4,000 legal consultations and arranging 300 legal lectures.

 

3. Human Rights Communication

 

Human rights communication is important to the spread of human rights concepts and contributes to the cause of human rights development. Since 2001, the center has organized more than 80 human rights lectures within and outside the university.

 

In 2006, the university erected a sculpture, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is 5.5 meters wide and 3.1 meters high. The statue has become a unique scene on the campus.

 

In July 2012, the center mobilized university teachers and students to form 15 voluntary teams, consisting of 625 subteams, to popularize the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015) in the counties and districts of Chongqing.[page]

 

4. Social Service and Academic Exchange

 

The center works to serve human rights legislative decision making. Since 2000, the center has participated in the legislative process for than 300 national or provincial human rights laws or regulations. In 2013, mandated by the Chongqing People’s Congress and the municipal government, the center put in order 128 municipal regulations and rules on human rights.

 

The center attaches great importance to overseas academic exchange. In 2002, Executive Director Zhang Yonghe gave a lecture on the archives system in China at the Human Rights Research Centre at the London School of Economics, elaborating on China’s human rights development. In 2008, Director Fu Zitang attended the China-Europe Human Rights Dialogue in Slovenia, delivering a speech at the meeting. Since 2012, 16 overseas person/visits have been made by center personnel; the center has also received seven person/visits from personnel at foreign human rights research institutions or foreign consulates.

 

The center has sponsored three academic conferences on human rights, and helped organize four such conferences. In November 2013, the center sponsored an academic symposium on China’s human rights development and the “Chinese Dream,” deepening discussions on the approval of Convention B. Prof. Zhou Wei, Prof. Liu Huawen, Prof. Wang Sixin and other human rights experts attended the symposium, in addition, Huang Junxian, vice bureau chief of the State Council Information Office, also attended.

 

In addition, center personnel have attended 11 domestic human rights meetings and received more than 20 visits from staff of domestic human rights research institutions or government departments.[page]

 

 

1. Overall Plan

 

The center aims to support the National Human Rights Action Plan, keep a close eye on international human rights development trends and legal construction in China, follow the course of action of “constructing theory, building systems, education and training, serving society and coordinated innovation,” and build a high-quality human rights education and research center with “distinctive features, national leadership and international recognition.”

 

2. Major Tasks

 

The center will build four teams and five platforms.

 

(1) Four teams

 

The center will build a Marxist human rights theory research team, a China human rights empirical research team, a human rights education and training team and a human rights communication team, all of which will help the center enhance its competitiveness.

 

(2) Five platforms

 

One periodical: the center will further improve the quality of China Human Rights Review and strive for its inclusion in the CSSCI index, while increasing the percentage of English abstracts, which will show foreign scholars the human rights research level of Chinese experts.[page]

 

One book collection: the center will expand the scope of the China Human Rights Review book series beyond its current focus on human rights theory and practice to translated books. This will help create a more comprehensive human rights research collection.

 

One online school: the center will build a national online school for human rights education, employing modern information technology to innovate and push forward human rights education.

 

One database: using its current database as a basis, the center, together with domestic organizations and government organs, will build China’s most authoritative human rights research database.

 

One thousand survey bases: the center will utilize the 1,000-county project, initiated by the university, to build 1,000 human rights empirical survey bases across the country to serve as a practical network for coordinated innovation.

 

3. Methods of Guarantee

 

The center will use the following four methods to guarantee effectively accomplishing its work.

 

(1) Further strengthening innovation capability by training or attracting talent.

 

With its current 18 full-time research fellows as a basis, the center will enhance efforts to train or attract talent, further combine advantageous resources within and outside the university, expand the research strength of the center, and improve the research capability of the center.[page]

 

(2) Increase special funds for future development.

 

The university will increase financial support for the center to ensure the development of the center, with special attention to providing funds to encourage project applications, fund academic rewards and attract talent. The center will effectively use its 4.5 million-yuan special allocation from the central government to strengthen support for human rights research at the university. The center will also provide one-to-one matching financial support to any successful bid for 2014 research projects of the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

 

(3) Use various methods to build an open innovation base.

 

The center will organize international human rights conferences, announce human rights research topics, introduce domestic and foreign experts to the university and carry out more exchange and cooperation with global human rights researchers in order to increase the international influence of the center. From 2014 to 2016, the center will provide 300,000 yuan in financial support each year for global open bidding for human rights research topics.

 

(4) Standardize management and set up effective operating mechanisms.

 

The center will further improve the decision making, implementation, and appraisal mechanisms for human rights education and research, ensuring that management of the center is institutionalized, standardized and scientific.

 

Against the backdrop of an era of comprehensively deepening reform, the Southwest University of Political Science and Law Center of Human Rights Education and Research, with the care and support of the State Council Information Office, the Ministry of Education and the China Society for Human Rights Studies, will actively implement the spirit of “earnestly respecting and ensuring human rights,” which has been advocated by the central authorities. It will use its own advantages and special characteristics to make further important contributions to the cause of human rights development in China.