软法效力的极大化：IHR法律影响力伸张路径

Currently, all mankind is experiencing an unprecedented and unknown COVID-19 era, and is expected to face a post-COVID-19 era with greatly amplified uncertainty. Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the status and role of the World Health Organization (WHO) has drawn renewed international attention. As is well known, the WHO is a specialized UN organization established to promote international cooperation in the health and hygiene sectors and plays an irreplaceable role in dealing with international public health conditions. WHO usually deals with global public health conditions under the International Health Regulations (IHR). The IHR was set in the 19th-century in Europe amid outbreaks of plague, cholera, smallpox, as well as yellow fever, and was formally enacted in 1969 after a transition period of the 20th century, followed by several supplementations and modifications before being finalized in 2005. In addition, new amendments are being seriously discussed. The IHR consists of 10 parts with 66 articles, including full text, definition, purpose, scope, principles and authorities in charge, information and public health response, suggestions, arrival halls, public health measures, health documents, payments, general provisions, MR expert lists, unexpected case committees, and final provisions. It is a representative international norm in the field of international public health formulated under the leadership of the WHO. In terms of its legal nature, the IHR can be regarded as a hard law with universal legal binding force on the surface, but a closer look at its provisions reveals that it is characterized by its duality consisting of the hard law and soft law provisions. Moreover, over the years of implementation, the legal binding force of the IHR's hard law provisions has been weakening, while the legal impact of the IHR's soft law provisions is becoming increasingly prominent. In the future, the legal impact of the IHR in light of the complex action of subjective and objective factors is supposed to continue to expand. Therefore, in the face of the unprecedented COVID-19 era, it is necessary to continuously implement the IHR's new development ideology, improve its practical function, and strengthen its intrinsic connotation to maximize the legal influence of the IHR. Here, the maximization of soft legal effect refers to a plan to overcome the constraints of legal binding and strengthen the practical implementation effect by maximizing the IHR's legal influence through all-round and multilateral measures based on the WHO's awareness of practical problems. These efforts are of great significance to the management of the global public health sector and the realization of the rule of law.