Assistant Professor Tsung-Ling Lee written ''The Rise of Technocracy and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Courts, Human Rights, and the Protection of Vulnerable Populations''
The Rise of Technocracy and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Courts, Human Rights, and the Protection of Vulnerable Populations
Abstract
Driven by the need to address the immediate public health threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, this has seen a rise of the technocratic mode of governance around the world. A technocratic approach is evidence-based and relies upon the guidance of experts to respond to the public health crisis. The rise of technocracy reflects a utilitarian calculus that seeks to preserve the greater good. Taiwan’s pandemic response exemplifies the strengths and weaknesses of this type of governance. Based on an analysis of the relevant case law of the Taiwan Constitutional Court, legislation, and political developments this Article takes a legal-historical look and traces the current technocratic approach—defined for this Article as an experts-driven and procedural-driven process—which is a hallmark of Taiwan’s pandemic response. Examining Taiwan’s pandemic response through a human rights lens sheds light on a more complex relationship between the collective right to health and life, and the individual rights to health, work, privacy, and liberty during the pandemic.
Keywords
COVID-19 Pandemic Technocracy Human Right Constitutional Court Vulnerable Populations
To Read Full Article, Please Go Following Link : German Law Journal The Rise of Technocracy and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Courts, Human Rights, and the Protection of Vulnerable Populations
Footnotes
The author acknowledges, with gratitude, for the enlightening feedbacks from Patrycja Dąbrowska-Kłosińska, Thérèse Murphy, Pedro A. Villarreal and participants at the Protection of Human Rights in Infectious Disease Control: Lessons for Global Health Governance from a Comparison of National Judicial Practice Symposium. The author would also like to thank Chien-Liang Lee, Wen-Yu Chia, Chih-Ming Liang and the anonymous reviewer for insightful comments and suggestions on the previous draft. Many thanks to the editors at the Washington and Lee University School of Law for excellent editorial assistance. All errors are my own.Tsung-Ling Lee is an assistant Professor at the Graduate Institute of Health & Biotechnology Law, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
