Zhang Xiaohan, Wang Chao
Guanghua Law School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310008, China.
Academy of International Strategy and Law, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310008, China.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Mar 4;9(3):281. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9030281.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a number of international cruise ships were infected, thereby resulting in serious public health and human rights problems. Multiple difficulties were encountered in the prevention and control of the coronavirus disease onboard ships, while rule-based international cooperation in this regard appeared inefficient and ineffective. By applying interdisciplinary methodologies, including empirical research of law, policy science, and health studies, this research reviewed the legal difficulties in the prevention and control of COVID-19 on international cruise ships and sought solutions from a policy-making and strategic perspective. We found that, apart from the inherent nature of cruise ships such as crowded semi-enclosed areas, shared sanitary facilities and limited medical resources, there are also nonnegligible legal reasons affecting the effectiveness of containment measures on board. In particular, there is ambiguity and even inconsistency of relevant international norms and domestic regulations, and some of the key rules are neither mandatory nor enforceable. We conclude by suggesting that rule-based international cooperation on this issue must be strengthened with respect to information sharing and management, a more effective supervisory mechanism, clarification of key rules over jurisdiction and distributions of obligations among the port states, flag states, nationality states, and cruise ship companies.
在2020年新冠疫情大流行期间，一些国际游轮受到感染，从而引发了严重的公共卫生和人权问题。在船上预防和控制冠状病毒病方面遇到了多重困难，而在这方面基于规则的国际合作显得效率低下且效果不佳。通过运用跨学科方法，包括法律实证研究、政策科学和健康研究，本研究回顾了国际游轮上预防和控制新冠疫情的法律难题，并从政策制定和战略角度寻求解决方案。我们发现，除了游轮本身拥挤的半封闭区域、共享卫生设施和有限医疗资源等固有特性外，还有不可忽视的法律原因影响船上防控措施的有效性。特别是，相关国际规范和国内法规存在模糊性甚至不一致性，一些关键规则既非强制性也不可执行。我们建议，在这个问题上，必须加强基于规则的国际合作，包括信息共享与管理、建立更有效的监督机制、明确港口国、船旗国、国籍国和游轮公司在管辖权和义务分配方面的关键规则。
