Finnish China Law Center at the University of Helsinki will have a guest lecture on the topic of ‘The judicial implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in Taiwan – observations on the decisions of the two Supreme Courts’.

Time: 13 September 2019, 10:15 – 12:00.

Venue: Hall P668, 6th floor of the Porthania Building (Faculty of Law), University of Helsinki, Yliopistonkatu 3

The lecture is open to all.

Overview of presentation

Taiwan is a country without the membership of the United Nations, and classified as a sui generis entity in international law by most textbooks on international law. Despite of its special status in international community, Taiwan has tried to implement many international human rights standards made by the U.N., including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights during this decade. In this lecture, Professor William Hui-yen Hsu will introduce the legal challenges of Taiwan to implement the ICESCR from international and domestic law, analyze the statues of the ICESCR and its relationship with subsequent domestic law in Taiwan, discuss the role of domestic courts for implementing the ICESCR, and assess the decisions made by the Supreme Courts of Taiwan applying the ICESCR generally.

About the speaker

William Hui-yen Hsu is Professor of Law and Director of the Department of Law (Indigenous Law Program) at National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan. His research and teaching areas are international human rights law, public international law and the WTO Law. His resent publications examine the implementation of international human rights standards of the Government of Taiwan, especially those relating to economic, social and cultural rights and rights of indigenous peoples. He has been a visiting fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (University of Cambridge) and a member of expert committee of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Culture, and National Security Council of Taiwan Government.