CHANS-Law: preventing the next pandemic through the integration of social and environmental law.

Zoonotic viruses have sacrificed hundreds of millions of people throughout human history. There are currently 1.7 million unidentified viruses estimated to be circulating in mammal and bird populations. It is foreseeable that in the near future, another of these will transmit to people, heralding the start of the next pandemic-one potentially more deadly than COVID-19. At the core of this article is a call for pre-emptive protection of the natural environment and its regenerative systems as the first fundamental step in the prevention of future epidemics and pandemics. While zoonoses originate in nature, the predominant legal discipline, managing these crises, is international health law which is invoked reactively once an outbreak has been reported. In this paper, we identify the need for a legal shift in epidemic and pandemic responses. In particular, we call for the incorporation of international environmental agreements to prevent the initial viral spillover from animal to human populations. We propose a strategy of strengthening existing agreements and a coupling of legal disciplines, such as health and environmental law, emphasizing the need for synergies across legal disciplines to enhance the emergence and management of future pandemics and epidemics. We introduce Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) Law to frame the required integration across legal instruments to regulate inextricably human-nature connections and advocate for the development of a Convention on Epidemics and Pandemics.

The Impact of China's Legal System on Public Health and Quality of Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study.

(1) Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the methods used to ensure the quality of public health and life changed. This study used empirical research methods to analyze the development of China's legal system during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the quality of public health and life and to clarify its importance in ensuring the quality of public health and life. (2) Materials and Methods: This study analyzed the development of China's rule of law system during the COVID-19 pandemic by using two authoritative databases, the Peking University Magic Key Database and the China Judicial Documents Network, and examined the scope of public health and quality of life under this system. (3) Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, China's rule of law system, with the main objective of controlling the pandemic, developed rapidly, effectively ensuring the quality of public health and life in different areas. As part of this system, the administrative activities of government departments played a key role. (4) Conclusions: During the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, China's legal system protected the quality of public health and life from the impact of the pandemic in many areas. Meanwhile, along with the important role of government administrative law enforcement activities in the prevention and control of a pandemic, the quality of public health and life should also be protected against illegal administrative acts in the future.