Taxpayer’s Human Rights—the Highlight of International Conference of
Chief Justices of the World

 

13th International Conference of Chief Justice of the World will be held in City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow , India on December 7th to 10th. Chief Justices from all over the world will gather together to show their concern for 2 billion children of the world and the generations yet to be born. In this conference, the world law and global governance are expected to be formulated for children's human rights protection.

 

City Montessori School has held International Conference of Chief Justices of the World once a year since 2001. 44 thousand students voiced their opinions by various ways and called on the chief justices taking actions to protect their human rights. In the past, 484 chief justices from 103 countries have participated. During the event, conferences, banquets and parades will be held to fight for children's right of life. Jagdish Gandhi, the founder of CMS stated that “international terrorism, lawlessness, global environmental degradation and danger of world war seriously threaten everyone without exception. It is therefore imperative to regulate international conduct, create an atmosphere of global unity and peace and to ensure a safe future for humanity, especially for over two billion children of the world and the generations yet to be born.”

 

“Taxpayer's human rights”, a new and hot issue these years, is a special topic in the conference this year. It has been popularly discussed because Europe debt crisis has led to economic recession, spending cuts of governments, tax increase, social welfare decrease, delayed retirement and high unemployment of the young generation, etc. Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, Honorary Vice President and consultative committee member of Association of World Citizens (AWC), Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men and President of Federation of World Peace and Love made a speech:“Taxpayer's human rights in the 21st century – Implementation of theories and actions”. “The protection of taxpayer's human rights is also highly correlated with children's rights to life. The livelihood of a family is severely affected by the unfair taxation and the child is the direct victim when the parents are affected by unjust tax collection measures,” Dr. Hong said. He added that “out of our love for the children, we have to facilitate reforms and equip the next generation with the abilities and skills to deal with the future through schooling and tutoring in daily life. We would like to bring the issue of taxpayer's human rights to the attention of grand judges and hope it will be instrumental for nations to push forward favorable legislation for our future generations.”

 

Dr. Hong pointed out that “tax is a legal claim on civilian properties by the government. Therefore the collection of taxes should be well-defined and clearly laid out in the law. Administrative departments should not expand the interpretations of law to facilitate tax collections at will and without limitations.”Therefore, he and the President of AWC, Mr. Rene Wadlow both hope to promote taxpayer's human rights around the world. It is apparent that taxpayer's rights have become a universal value. Building up a legal framework of taxpayer's human rights is fundamental for human rights protection. Dr. Hong and President Wadlow call on all nations to propose Declaration of Taxpayer's Rights.

 

Dr. Hong led AWC to attend Rio +20 this June. The volunteers who exchanged their opinions and shared thoughts about economic development, environment protection, culture of love and peace, respect and human rights with nearly 70 heads of state, leaders, and NGOs in the conference will promote taxpayer's rights with animation video clips. They will guide the students to think that paying tax is an obligation, but the government should follow legal procedures to collect tax and abide by proportional principle. The government should not arbitrarily breach people's freedom and right of property.

 

The volunteers of AWC will also promote the importance of taxpayer's rights to the chief justices and call on all governments to build a sound system to protect taxpayers' fundamental human rights. Up to present, 117 justices and heads of government agencies from 53 nations have endorsed the “Declaration of Taxpayer's Rights.” The declaration proclaims that taxation is the cornerstone of a nation's infrastructure and development, but unreasonable tax collection directly violates taxpayers' fundamental rights such as property rights and right to life. Unjust tax disposition also affects the survival and development of children and families as well as the growth and stability of society. Therefore, respect for taxpayer's rights has been widely recognized as a very important aspect of the international human rights. Hence, establishing a sound framework for the implementation of taxpayer's human rights is an essential part of a government's protection of its people's fundamental rights.

 

Throughout history, it is evident that the soundness of a dynasty's or government's tax system plays a crucial role in its rise or fall. For example, China's “Late Tang Peasant Uprising from 875-884, the American Civil War, and the stepping down of Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, all had to do with unjust tax measures. In the 21st century, many nations encounter a variety of problems and face the challenge of creating a just and fair tax system. We hope that through the conference of chief justices, the idea of taxpayer's rights will be fostered and justice in taxation will be implemented worldwide so that countless people of the world will be free from the suppression of unjust systems and their property rights and right to life will be protected. Consequently, many governments can bring an end to the conflicts and chaos in their countries and move forward to peace and prosperity.