Joint Declaration Research Articles

Promoting peace in the healthcare sector. What obstacles to overcome?

Modern military strategies, armaments and technologies imply that every war today has a deleterious impact on all determinants of health, with direct and indirect effects that cause physical, mental and social suffering of the exposed population, that extends far beyond the duration of the conflict. The promotion of peace and the prevention of war is therefore clearly one of the professional tasks of health professionals, at least as much as the prevention of other public health risks. Nevertheless, peace promotion and anti-war activities are struggling to take off and spread in the health sector. The article examines two possible factors that stand as obstacles between the realisation of the evil of war, shared by all, and the actual commitment to disarmament and peace, practised by a few. The first of these obstacles is the divergence of views on the methods to choose to prevent conflict. Nonviolence and disarmament or military deterrence? The hypothesis discussed is that the deterrence theory still enjoys a certain credibility even in the medical scientific world although it is far from being an evidence-based strategy. The second obstacle examined is the fear of professionals and their associations of being accused of 'playing politics'. Since war is always a public health catastrophe, when health professionals oppose war, they are only doing their job. However, it is undoubtedly true that preventing war also involves political choices, but this is the case in every other area of public health, which without the use of political and regulatory instruments could not fulfil its task. Lastly, a concrete example of an intervention to promote peace is presented, promoted by several Italian scientific societies in the health field who have succeeded in drawing up a joint declaration in favour of peace and against war, open for subscription also by other scientific societies, journals, associations and foundations in the health sector.

Toward a Joint Declaration on the Church?

AbstractThe Lutheran–Catholic report Baptism and Growth in Communion (2019) argued that on the basis of a common understanding of baptism, it would be possible for both Lutherans and Catholics to consider themselves as being in communion within the one body of Christ and in this sense as churches. However, this approach was not supported unambiguously on the Catholic side. One commission member stated that the Catholic Church is the “only fully identifiable” visible manifestation of the body of Christ. Also, the use of “elements of sanctification and truth” as ecclesial criteria was seen to be too optimistic. As a result of this, Baptism and Growth in Communion is now understood only as an open‐ended study document that is not yet ready for reception. It seems the starting point of the report was a belief that the Lutheran and Catholic understandings of the church differ so much that a new approach is needed, namely through the mutual recognition of baptism and the mutual recognition of baptizing communities as members of the body of Christ. However, this path does not appear to be possible in the proposed form because of the criticism from the Catholic side. Instead, it might be possible to make progress through a Joint Declaration on the Church that can pick up the insights of the reports On Church and Church Communion (2018), Communion in Growth (2017), as well as Baptism and Growth in Communion and other major dialogue documents in ecumenical ecclesiology.

Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

AbstractThe year 2024 marks 25 years since the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), along with an Official Common Statement and an attached Annex, on 31 October 1999. In reflecting upon the JDDJ, this article attempts to evaluate the impact of the declaration by addressing the following questions: What did the JDDJ accomplish, and what did it fail to achieve? What progress has been made since 1999 to build on the work of the JDDJ? What work still needs to be done moving forward in Catholic–Lutheran dialogue? The article concludes that the JDDJ has had a ground‐breaking impact in ecumenical dialogue – both in and beyond the Catholic–Lutheran context – that continues to unfold today. While there is a long way to go in the ecumenical venture, the JDDJ represents a pivotal moment and a sign of hope for visible Christian unity, which is the goal of ecumenism.

북핵 위협에 따른 한반도 비핵화에서 북한 비핵화로 정책 변화 분석

The Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula came into effect on February 19, 1992, after South Korea and North Korea agreed on December 31, 1991. North Korea unilaterally broke and did not keep the joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Yoon Seok-yeol government emphasized that it would push for North Korea's denuclearization and bring about practical changes based on principles. North Korea's denuclearization can be said to be a clear expression of the fact that North Korea is the one who caused the nuclear problem and that North Korea must get rid of its nuclear weapons. North Korea's denuclearization is a concept that clearly indicates that North Korea is the entity that must fundamentally change its position in order to uphold Article 1 of the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. By using the somewhat ambiguous expression 'denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula', concerns about South Korea's response ability that could lead to a security vacuum have been dispelled and it has been made clear that North Korea must give up its nuclear weapons. The more North Korea pours money into nuclear weapons, the more dangerous it is for the human rights of the North Korean people. The cost of North Korea making nuclear weapons and testing missiles should be spent on improving food and human rights for North Korean people. South Korea must denuclearize North Korea so that its people can escape from hunger and lead North Korea down the path of reform and openness.

Book Review: Treaty for a Lost City: The Sino-British Joint Declaration

Book Review: Treaty for a Lost City: The Sino-British Joint Declaration

The Impact of China-Japan Economic Cooperation on Regional Security: A Case Study of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) to China

The issuance of the China-Japan Joint Declaration in 1972 marked the beginning of reconciliation and exchanges between the two countries, and since then Sino-Japanese relations have continued to advance in twists and turns. The issue of territorial sovereignty, historical understanding and changes in relative strength in the political field of the two countries have all hindered the development of bilateral relations. However, the implementation of the China-Japan Joint Declaration has provided many new possibilities for exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, and the continuous development of economic relations between the two countries has promoted the improvement of bilateral relations and regional security. This paper finds that the Japanese official development assistance (ODA) to China initially brought China and Japan closer and promoted the improvement of regional security, but later due to the emergence of many problems, Japan's ODA policy was adjusted, making the role of the ODA in promoting bilateral relations and regional security disappear. Therefore, economic cooperation should not be affected by the issue of political mutual trust, and economic cooperation without political interference could be the best way to improve Sino-Japanese relations today.

Crimes against humanity: concepts and signs

The relevance of the article is obvious because the terrible crimes committed by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine shook not only Ukrainian society but also the whole world. Russian military personnel and their command commit large-scale and systematic attacks on the civilian population - brutal murders, torture, torture, rape, enslavement, extermination, deportations, imprisonment, the crime of apartheid and other illegal acts of a cruel nature directed against the people of Ukraine.
 The relevance of the study is also related to the fact that the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Criminal Code of Ukraine) does not contain a definition of crimes against humanity, unlike other crimes such as military or war crimes. We will try to figure out how the actions of criminals will be qualified by Ukrainian courts and who will be held criminally responsible at the international level in the event that crimes against humanity are committed in Ukraine.
 «Crimes against humanity» as a separate group of crimes in international law was first reflected in the joint declaration of the governments of France, Great Britain and Russia on May 28, 1915 as a protest against the genocide committed by Turkey against the Armenian population. The result of the criminal events was the killing of more than a million people, prompting the international community to label this shameful act as a «crime against civilization and humanity» for which the leaders of the Turkish government should be held accountable.
 Crimes against humanity are crimes designed to destroy the very nature of man. These crimes are considered the most heinous crimes, because they mean deliberate mass killings either by the fact of the very existence of people (crimes against humanity) or by the fact of belonging to an ethnic or national group (genocide).
 In a number of international documents, such as: the Statute of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, article 6c; Charter of the International Military Tribunal in Tokyo, Article 5c; Law No. 10, adopted by the Control Council of the Allied Powers in Germany in 1945, Article II, 1c; UN Convention of December 9, 1948 on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide and its Punishment; Statutes of international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia, Art. 3-5 and Rwanda Art. 2-3; Statute of the International Criminal Court, Art. 7, such international crimes as crimes against humanity are reflected, from this it follows that universal jurisdiction extends to crimes against humanity.

Article: Sustainable Arbitration Along the Belt and Road Initiative: The Green Model Clause

While there may be developments in the substantive obligations in green arbitration, it is difficult to say the same for the procedural aspects. Many have voiced concerns over the huge environmental impact in cross-border arbitration as a result of flights necessary for hearings and countless bundles of documents (just to name two examples). A select number of arbitral institutions have implemented climate-friendly practices in their rules and practice (whether pre- or during the COVID-19 pandemic), but such initiatives are far from sufficient. Although the new norm of virtual hearings has become common, some are concerned about their adoption, alleging a violation of the right to a physical hearing and consequently access to justice. Yet a relevant report released by the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (‘ICCA’) has definitively concluded otherwise. In this article, the Belt and Road Initiative (‘BRI’) provides the backdrop as one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the world that utilizes international arbitration. There are various initiatives within the BRI that gather major stakeholders, with the most relevant project here being the Beijing Joint Declaration by Arbitration Institutions for the BRI (the ‘Beijing Declaration’), which was issued by major arbitral institutions around the world and pushes for innovative changes in arbitration. Building on green practices in the arbitration community and the confirmation by ICCA that virtual hearings in and of themselves do not encroach on access to justice, the author suggests that arbitral institutions involved in the Beijing Declaration or along the BRI could pioneer changes in green arbitration by launching a Green Model Clause, which could operate as a clause for parties to adopt alongside carbon emissions scorecards, with the scorecards setting out a framework on the relevant factors for the tribunal to consider in the process of cost optimization. Belt and Road Initiative, model clause, arbitration, arbitration institutions, arbitral rules, Campaign for Greener Arbitrations, access to justice, virtual hearings, carbon emissions scorecards, climate change

The “Hierarchy” of Truths in a New Context

This article revisits the debate leading to the inclusion of the notion of a “hierarchy” of truths in the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism to show that it not only concerns the presentation of Catholic doctrine in ecumenical dialogue but that it extends to all of Catholic teaching and practice and ought to serve as a guiding principle in the assessment of ecumenical agreements. Further, it argues that the soteriological criterion or horizon for properly weighing the truths of faith has yet to be fully received. The recent recognition of consensus on the basic truths relating to the doctrine of God’s saving grace between Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Reformed, and Catholic Communions represented by the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification has brought us into a new context, one that invites a more intentional application of this principle for the mutual recognition of shared faith.

Engagement of European Countries in the Implementation of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy (Part 2)

Globalization has contributed to the development of economic relations between Europe and the Indo-Pacific. However, after 2011 they were influenced by the American “pivot to Asia” and the shift of US attention from countering international terrorism to rivalry with the “revisionist” powers — Russia and China. In 2019, with the adoption of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, China became their main regional rival. The rivalry with him provided for the Americans to unite their Asian allies in a network of managed formal alliances, as well as to connect Great Britain and France to solving strategic tasks. On February 11, 2022, a new Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States appeared. This document emphasized the strategic value and increasing role of Great Britain, France, the EU and NATO in Indo-Pacific and set the task of building bridges between the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions. The main role in its solution was assigned to AUKUS, a trilateral military alliance of the United States, Great Britain and Australia, created on September 15, 2021. At about the same time, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the European Union approved their own strategies in Indo-Pacific. They had in common an unwillingness to see China as the main opponent in the context of the US-Chinese rivalry. At the same time, the documents did not indicate that Europe was equidistant from global rivals. On the one hand, being part of the collective West, the EU demonstrated its support to America, on the other, being the most important economic partner of the Celestial Empire, it refused to see it as an existential threat to its security. Against this background, a similar British document published in March 2021 stood out, characterized by a hostile attitude towards China. However, significant differences in the strategies of European countries were offset by their membership in NATO. At the Alliance summit in Madrid in June 2022 the Europeans, together with other allies, proclaimed a strategic course for “systemic rivalry” with the PRC in the context of the interconnection of the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the development of the situation in the Indo-Pacific. With the signing of the NATOEU joint declaration in Brussels on January 10, 2023, there was a further rapprochement of the two Western structures on an anti-Chinese basis, as well as the complete subordination of Europe to the interests of American global policy.

Praxis pietatis, avagy a kegyesség gyakorlata

Praxis Pietatis, or the Practice of Piety: The Relationship between Faith and Deeds in the New Testament ─ From the Perspective of a Historical Impact Point. This article delves into the intricate relationship between faith and deeds as it pertains to the teachings of the New Testament, drawing from the legacy of the Reformation. It emphasizes the necessity of re-evaluating church doctrine based on the foundation of the Scripture. However, it recognizes that understanding the message of the Scripture is not an objective, detached process but rather one that is deeply entwined with individual religious experiences and interpretations. The dynamic interaction between faith and the tangible, visible world shapes our comprehension of the Bible’s words and meanings. The complex interplay of faith and deeds is recognized, as various denominations stress different aspects of biblical teachings. The role of faith in the New Testament is not solely to lead to salvation; it also establishes a framework for the believer’s relationship with good deeds, setting it within a temporal framework. The New Testament understanding of salvation, whether it is eternal life or the acquisition of God’s kingdom, is framed by the faith of God’s chosen people, and this faith presupposes the intervention of God. Thus, faith cannot be separated from God’s action, making it the foundation for understanding good deeds. Keywords: faith and deeds, New Testament, justification, Joint Declaration, social justice, Chrysostom

Means of grace or magic, sacrament, or superstition

In this article I examine the recent case of the Rev Andres Arango, who was fired from his diocese for using the wrong language formula in baptism and use that incident to interrogate the different views of the Catholic and Reformed traditions to the sacraments. The article begins by going back into the history of Christianity to the Donatist controversy, especially as that controversy relates to the administration of the sacraments, of the fourth century CE. I outline the way in which Augustine of Hippo dealt with that crisis and the implications for the administration of the sacraments. Following from that, it tracks the development of the attitudes to the sacraments, especially in the Reformation and the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century , and the way in which that shaped the way in which the two traditions came to regard the sacraments. It examines statements in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, especially the WCC’s Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry and the Joint Declaration of the Doctrine of Justification to chart some of the progress that has been made in discussions between the two traditions in the ecumenical space. Finally, it examines contemporary attitudes to the sacraments in Roman Catholic and Reformed theology and practice to suggest a way forward.

Engagement of European Countries in the Implementation of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy (Part 1)

Globalization has contributed to the development of economic relations between Europe and the Indo-Pacific. However, after 2011 they were influenced by the American “pivot to Asia” and the shift of US attention from countering international terrorism to rivalry with the “revisionist” powers — Russia and China. In 2019, with the adoption of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, China became their main regional rival. The rivalry with him provided for the Americans to unite their Asian allies in a network of managed formal alliances, as well as to connect Great Britain and France to solving strategic tasks. On February 11, 2022, a new Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States appeared. This document emphasized the strategic value and increasing role of Great Britain, France, the EU and NATO in Indo-Pacific and set the task of building bridges between the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions. The main role in its solution was assigned to AUKUS, a trilateral military alliance of the United States, Great Britain and Australia, created on September 15, 2021. At about the same time, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the European Union approved their own strategies in Indo-Pacific. They had in common an unwillingness to see China as the main opponent in the context of the US-Chinese rivalry. At the same time, the documents did not indicate that Europe was equidistant from global rivals. On the one hand, being part of the collective West, the EU demonstrated its support to America, on the other, being the most important economic partner of the Celestial Empire, it refused to see it as an existential threat to its security. Against this background, a similar British document published in March 2021 stood out, characterized by a hostile attitude towards China. However, significant differences in the strategies of European countries were offset by their membership in NATO. At the Alliance summit in Madrid in June 2022 the Europeans, together with other allies, proclaimed a strategic course for “systemic rivalry” with the PRC in the context of the interconnection of the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the development of the situation in the Indo-Pacific. With the signing of the NATO-EU joint declaration in Brussels on January 10, 2023, there was a further rapprochement of the two Western structures on an anti-Chinese basis, as well as the complete subordination of Europe to the interests of American global policy.

Ketidakpatuhan Tiongkok terhadap Sino-British Joint Declaration dalam Implementasi Kebijakan “One Country, Two Systems” Hong Kong

AbstrakIn general, this research discusses China's non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration agreement in implementing policies on the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" in Hong Kong. The interesting thing in this research is that the “One Country, Two Systems” system is a unique system of government because it has never been implemented in any country other than China. The Gap Research in this research is that China in the last ten years has shown an increasingly disobedient attitude towards the Sino-British Joint Declaration even though the agreement is a solution so that "One Country, Two Systems" can be carried out as it should. This non-compliance made China criticized by many countries but there was no intention of China to return to complying with the agreement. This research uses state security theory, state sovereignty theory, and compliance-based theory. With this theory, it can be seen what factors made China disobedient to the Sino-British Joint Declaration.Keywords: International Agreement, Democratization, One Country Two Systems, China, Hong Kong.

From War Crimes to Crimes against Humanity and Genocide: Turkish Responsibility after World War I

On 24 May 1915, the Triple Entente powers of Britain, France, and Russia issued a joint declaration that qualified the massacres, imprisonments and violence inflicted on the peaceful Armenian population as “crimes against humanity and civilization.” The concept of crimes against humanity was further developed and explained by the Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalties (hereinafter: Commission), which was formed during the Paris Peace Conference to investigate violations of the laws and customs of war and prosecute war criminals. This article traces the evolution of discussions held within the Commission regarding the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Turkish government against its Armenian population, which technically fell outside the jurisdiction of the crimes specified in these talks, as the atrocities were committed not against the population of a belligerent state but, rather, against their own nationals. These discussions played a major part in the development of international criminal law; particularly of the concept of crimes against humanity. The Armenian Memorandum and the list of perpetrators of the Armenian atrocities were also presented to the Commission, which (together with other data and information collected) identified the crimes committed against the Armenian population by the Ottoman authorities, thus defining the concept of crimes against humanity and the acts that fell within its scope. Although post-World War I efforts for justice are generally assessed as a failed effort, crimes against humanity first materialized as a term in international law during this period and its development was based on the Armenian atrocities, which provided a critical basis for the International Military Tribunal's later convictions and contributed to the concept's evolution into its present-day significance.

Minimum Legal Standards in Reparation Processes for Colonial Crimes: The Case of Namibia and Germany

AbstractIn 2021, the German and Namibian governments published a Joint Declaration as a result of their negotiations on reparations. Ovaherero and Nama representatives strongly criticized the violation of their participation rights during the negotiations and the reproduction of colonial racism. In 2023, a lawsuit was filed with the Namibian High Court. This litigation could become a milestone in the history of legal struggles for reparations for colonial crimes worldwide. In addition to the litigation, several United Nations Special Rapporteurs were contacted and published their joint communication in April 2023, essentially confirming the lack of effective participation and the obligation to grant reparations.This Article gives an overview of the most important historical events during German colonial rule and the most significant efforts to legally come to terms with it since 2006. It analyzes the main legal issues in this context: Have the acts committed by German colonial troops violated the laws in force at the time? Is the current application of the doctrine of intertemporal law by the governments a reproduction of racism? Might it be a new act of racism? What challenges and limits do courts face when they attempt to retrospectively reconstruct legal systems and legal norms in force 100 years ago? Does the German state have a legal obligation to enter into negotiations over reparations? What participation rights do affected communities have in processes of legal reappraisal of colonialism?In view of the growing demands for reparations worldwide, it is timely to deal with the underlying legal issues in an exemplary manner. The legal intervention of the German-Namibian reappraisal could set a precedent. The Article aims at establishing minimum legal standards for reparations processes for colonial crimes worldwide.

Reassessing Thatcher’s foreign policy: The Sino-British Declaration 1984

This article presents a ‘primacy of domestic politics’ interpretation of the Thatcher government’s main objectives in the negotiations of the early 1980s, which secured the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. In the immediate aftermath of the Falklands conflict, sovereignty issues were uppermost in public discourse and the government’s decision to cede sovereignty over Hong Kong seems inconsistent with other elements of Thatcher’s foreign policy. However, when placed in the context of domestic economic objectives it is clear that the liberalisation and deregulation agenda would be undermined by a lack of investor confidence in sterling overseas should business confidence be disrupted in Hong Kong with a potentially disastrous diversification out of sterling. The 1984 Joint Declaration secured special status for Hong Kong enshrining the independence of the currency and the Hong Kong banking system thereby averting a sterling crisis which would have had major implications for the City of London and Thatcher’s domestic policies.

The buildup to the National Security Law in Hong Kong: From Structural Contradictions to Direct Violence

The political scene of Hong Kong both before and after the transition from British to Chinese authority was one of negative calm - the absence of violence. Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984), for instance, & a mini-constitution (i.e., Basic Law) picturing the city's future under the People's Republic of China were to guarantee the public's autonomy in politics and social rights. Nevertheless, Hong Kong's political context evolved from poor peace (with the Joint Declaration providing a foundation for positive peace) to indirect and ultimately direct violence. The writings that envisioned "a substantial amount of autonomy" and "democratization" were riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions. The rise of the National Security Act continued this aggressive trajectory, in which underlying conflicts created cycles of continual violence that were originally entrenched in structure but became explicitly evident at a level of mindset and subsequently conduct after 2014.

Small Governing Coalition in Hong Kong and its Impact on Political Freedom

Small Governing Coalition in Hong Kong and its Impact on Political Freedom

Distributionally robust comprehensive declaration strategy of virtual power plant participating in the power market considering flexible ramping product and uncertainties

The volatility and randomness of renewable energy output make the flexible ramping ability demand of power system more urgent, and flexible ramping product (FRP) can effectively improve the flexibility of the power system. Virtual power plant (VPP) can regulate distributed generation, which is conducive to the regulation potential of flexible resources. To solve the problems of FRP and electric energy markets synergy and the wind power output uncertainty faced by the VPP in the declaration process, this paper proposes a comprehensive declaration strategy for the VPP to participate in the power market considering FRP and uncertainties. Firstly, this paper designs a synergistic trading mode covering flexibility resource demand determination and the virtual bidding curve formation for electric energy and FRP markets, in which the virtual bidding curve can reasonably compensate for the unit opportunity cost. Secondly, a comprehensive declaration-dispatching strategy decision-making model for VPP is constructed, and a two-stage distributed robust optimization (DRO) technology is used to deal with the wind power output uncertainty in the model, and flexible resources such as energy storage are used to mitigate energy deviation in the VPP. Finally, simulations implemented on a typical VPP are delivered to show that: 1) Virtual bidding curve realizes the accurate compensation for the units providing FRP. 2) Compared with the single market, VPP can increase the expected profit by 20.44% and reduce wind curtailment cost by 59.68% in the joint declaration of multi-markets.3) VPP can effectively suppress output uncertainty through energy storage system. 4) DRO model has significant advantages in data-driven, less conservative results and stable running time.