The 20th Anniversary of the Inclusion of Human Rights Clause in the Chinese Constitution

Editor's Note: The 2004 amendment to the Chinese Constitution added the clause that "the state respects and protects human rights," marking a milestone event in the history of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. Twenty years ago, to incorporate the clause of "human rights" into the Chinese Constitution, many scholars conducted in-depth research on topics such as the relationship between human rights and basic rights and the significance of the human rights clause in the Constitution in interpreting unenumerated basic rights and expanding the subjects of basic rights. To this day, studies of this provision are still necessary. Through the human rights clause, the 1982 Constitution has built a bridge of communication between citizens and persons, between persons and individuals, between the collective and the individual, and between China and the world. Over the past 20 years, the protection of human rights and other basic rights of citizens in China has been continuously improved. In the context of constitutional review, the institutionalization of human rights protection has gradually taken shape in the country through mechanisms such as legislative recording and review, and China has made remarkable progress along the path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics. In 2022, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made important statements on the Chinese path of human rights development. Against this background, The Journal of Human Rights published a series of articles in honor of the 20th anniversary of the inclusion of the human rights clause in the Chinese Constitution, in hopes of advancing the studies on the connection between the concept of "human rights" and the constitution.