The U.S.-Asia Law Institute hosted Chris Fabricant, director of strategic litigation at The Innocence Project, for a virtual talk about his new book, Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System. The Taiwan Innocence Project and Innocence Project Japan co-hosted the event on June 8, 2022.
This Week in Asian Law
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China unveils an ambitous legislative plan for 2021; Hong Kong slides down on the world press freedom index; a Japanese court refuses to let a married couple enter different family names in the family register; a Seoul court rejects the request of 20 former “comfort women” for compensation from Japan; Taiwan passes an Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act.
This Week in Asian Law
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China’s anti-trust agency fines Alibaba $2.75 billion; a Hong Kong judge approves a settlement between HSBC and Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou giving her access to documents she seeks to fight extradition to the US; Japan considers increasing the penalty for online slander after the apparent suicide of a reality show performer; South Korea considers taking Japan to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to stop it from releasing treated radioactive water into the sea; Taiwan’s attorney general files an extraordinary appeal on behalf of a man on death row.
April 1, 2019: Wrongful Convictions Observer
We were delighted to see this article by USALI long-term partner Judge Jed Rakoff in this week's New York Review of Books, regarding the problem of inaccurate eyewitness identifications and also responding thoughtfully to how this problem might be addressed in an age where the majority of criminal matters are disposed of by plea bargain.
USALI’s May 2018 Trip to China: Preventing Wrongful Convictions – Police Interrogations and False Confessions
In May 2018, the U.S.-Asia Law Institute (USALI) traveled to China as part of its continuing program to work with partners in Asia to prevent and redress wrongful convictions. Working with Chinese partner institutions, we convened several events in Beijing and Shanghai to share the research and expertise of Western scholars on one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in the U.S. and around the world: false confessions.
Book Launch in China
On May 29, 2018 the U.S.-Asia Law Institute held a book launch for two the release of their two newest publications, “Questioning Police Interrogation Methods” and “The Evolution of Pretrial Detention Law.” These two books are the result of many year’s work, and feature a variety of articles from leading legal scholars and practitioners about these two important and evolving fields of pretrial detention and interrogation methods.
The books feature an English language and Chinese language versions, with articles translated into Chinese by USALI staff and scholars. The Evolution of Pretrial Detention Law introduces the history and practice of U.S. and Chinese pretrial release history. Meanwhile, Questioning Police Interrogation Methods offers a perspective and methods to alleviate police-induced false confessions.
The book launch was held at Beijing Normal University, where friends of USALI, the publisher China Law Press, and contributors to the book gathered to discuss the contents and the evolution of the work itself. USALI Executive Director Ira Belkin states, “I am confident that this book’s groundbreaking research, comprehensive commentary and imaginative proposals will stimulate further law enforcement progress in China and the United States.”
Recent Events: Bail Reform in Massachusetts
USALI has been working with experts in in Asia to share information about criminal justice reform generally and in China to share information about “bail reform” in particular. In fact, we have a bilingual book scheduled for publication later this month comparing pre-trial detention regimes in the United States and China.