HRJust WP 2 – Deliverable 7.3 3 peer reviewed publications on SODCSE process specific to Covid, Migration and Climate

The HRJust project is designed to investigate the emerging phenomenon of Human Rights Justifications (HRJs). Historically, human rights were conceptualised as a "normative shield" possessed by individuals to protect them against the potentially overreaching power of the State. However, the project identifies a paradigm shift: States are increasingly assuming the role of the subject of human rights, activating rights language to defend and legitimise their own governance decisions and actions. This shift creates two primary regulatory gaps. First, there is no international, regional, or national regime that regulates how States use human rights to justify their actions. Second, the protection of individual human rights is often weakened when States appropriate rights language as a tool of governance rather than a mechanism of protection. HRJust aims to develop a robust theory of HRJs and implement a process for Systematic Ongoing Direct Civil Society Engagement (SODCSE). By focusing on five countries—Sweden, Finland, Taiwan, India and Ukraine—and three thematic areas (Covid-19, Migration, and Climate), the project provides recommendations to the EU on promoting transnational democratic governance and mending these gaps in human rights protection.