January 16-22
China
China authorized its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels and destroy structures on features it claims in the newly passed Coast Guard Law. The law also authorizes the coast guard to demolish other countries’ structures built on reefs and islands claimed by China and to seize or order foreign vessels illegally entering China’s territorial waters to leave.
A draft Legal Aid Law was reviewed for the first time by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee at its recent 25th Session. The draft law clarifies the concept of legal aid and who provides it, expands the scope of legal aid, addresses the role of duty lawyers, and improves the procedures and supporting measures for legal aid. Article 22 of the draft law expands the scope of persons eligible for court-appointed lawyers to include all defendants in ordinary procedures who contest their cases and defendants in death penalty review procedures. (in Chinese)
China’s Supreme People’s Court released an Opinion on Strengthening Juvenile Adjudication Work in the New Era, which addresses the protection of juveniles’ rights in criminal, civil, and administrative cases. The Opinion requires courts to designate specialized tribunals (if they have sufficient capacity) or specialized collegial panels or teams of judges to handle cases involving juveniles. One provision that has already sparked public controversy authorizes juvenile courts to handle criminal cases where the suspect is a college student under the age of 22 at the time the case is filed with the court. (in Chinese)
China’s Supreme People’s Court and Ministry of Justice jointly released an Opinion on Providing Lawyers with One-Stop Litigation Service. They simultaneously launched a People’s Court Lawyers Service Platform that offers 35 kinds of online services for lawyers, including registering cases, applying for mediation or hearings, accessing case files, submitting evidence, requesting the court to collect evidence, checking digital service material, and so on. So far, 80% of courts nationwide have the capacity to provide online access to case files, while 71% have enabled online hearings. (in Chinese)
China’s Supreme People’s Court released four criminal judgments as to the 26th batch of Guiding Cases of the SPC. Guiding Case Nos. 144-147 respectively address the use of non-excessive self-defense against deadly force, the distinction between intruding into and sabotaging a computer system, a new type of gambling by conducting binary option OTC transactions, and the destruction of places of historical interest by rock climbing with pitons. (in Chinese)
China’s newly established anti-corruption body, the National Supervision Commission, has joined the Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and Ministry of Justice in issuing the Opinion on Strengthening and Perfecting the Linkages among Supervision, Enforcement, and Criminal Justice. The Opinion’s 69 articles address a wide range of issues that arise when cases are transferred from the national and lower-level supervision commissions to the procuratorates and courts, including jurisdiction, evidence, detention of suspects, and the status of property involved in the case. The commissions, established in 2018, operate outside the processes of the Criminal Procedure Law, which is binding on the police, procuratorates, and courts. The supervision commissions are responsible for investigating administrative, disciplinary, and criminal violations by Communist Party members and certain categories of government employees.
Hong Kong
All civil servants in Hong Kong are being required to sign a document pledging loyalty to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC, according to a notice released by the Civil Service Bureau. The bureau has warned that negligence or refusal to sign the declaration would raise serious doubts about a civil servant’s “sense of duty and commitment to serve as a civil servant,” and that the government has the discretion to initiate proceedings to terminate non-signers. Civil servants have until mid-February to sign the declaration.
The new chairman of Hong Kong’s Bar Association, Paul Harris, plans to explore whether the National Security Law can be modified so as to persuade foreign countries to reinstate extradition agreements with the SAR that were suspended over concerns about the law.
Japan
Japan’s Cabinet has approved bills that would amend several key public health laws, including the Infectious Diseases Prevention Law, in order to increase government authority to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Most controversial is a provision that would allow a prison sentence of up to a year for persons who test positive for the virus but refuse to be hospitalized. The bills await consideration in the Diet.
The Tokyo District Court confirmed the constitutionality of a provision in the Nationality Law that effectively bans dual citizenship for Japanese nationals. It provides: “A Japanese national will lose Japanese citizenship when the individual obtains a foreign citizenship on his or her own will.” The law had been challenged by eight plaintiffs who live in Europe. They argued that the provision violates Article 22 of the Constitution, which guarantees “the right of expatriation.” The court said this clause merely prevents the government from interfering with a citizen who wants to renounce Japanese citizenship.
Japan is considering revising its penal code to penalize sex crimes against intellectually disabled persons without heavily relying on the testimonies of the victims. A review committee on criminal law relating to sexual crimes, set up by the Justice Ministry in March, is discussing whether the content and procedures of the penal code should be reviewed in light of the realities of sexual abuse. Concerned parties said a new provision to the penal code should criminalize sexual acts committed in the knowledge that the victim is intellectually disabled. They said the law must take into account the gaps in knowledge and judgment levels between the offenders and the victims.
Koreas
North Korea is imposing stiff fines or prison for anyone caught enjoying South Korean entertainment or copying the way South Koreans speak as leader Kim Jong Un steps up a war on outside influences. A sweeping new “anti-reactionary thought” law was imposed late last year, which appeared to increase some penalties while tightening restrictions in the government's long-running war on outside information.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is facing a public outcry after releasing a draft human rights plan for 2021-23 that aims to protect LGBT students and eradicate hatred and discrimination on campus. In a section for sexual-minority students, the education office said it will develop and distribute educational materials aimed at improving gender equality and awareness at schools. It also plans to dispatch inspectors to investigate human rights violations facing LGBT students and consult them. As of January 22, more than 31,000 people had signed a petition opposing the draft plan. However, an association of 138 human rights groups has come out in support of the plan.
The Seoul High Court has sentenced Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to 2.5 years in prison for corruption and bribery, creating a leadership crisis at the company. Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, Lee Jae-yong’s father, died last year and the younger Lee had been operating as de facto leader. In 2017, Mr. Lee was convicted of bribing the former South Korean president and one of her close friends and spent nearly a year in jail.
Taiwan
Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan approved draft revisions to a law that would grant recognition to all international same-sex marriages, except for those involving a partner from the People’s Republic of China, and said it would send the revisions to the Legislative Yuan for review. The changes would apply to Article 46 of the Act Governing the Choice of Law in Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements (涉外民事法律適用法), which states that “the formation of a marriage is governed by the national law of each party.”
Judicial reform advocates in Taiwan are calling for an end to life tenure for judges and the introduction of a jury system in criminal cases in the wake of “the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Taiwan’s judiciary” involving a former Supreme Court judge.
Taiwan’s Supreme Court remanded the case involving eight Sunflower movement figures to the High Court for retrial, saying the court should consider the defendants’ right of “civil disobedience.” The Sunflower movement was a protest against the KMT-led government’s rushed handling of a trade-in-services agreement with the People’s Republic of China. The High Court last year convicted the eight defendants of inciting others to commit crimes related to the occupation of the Executive Yuan complex and sentenced them to 2-4 years in prison. They appealed to the Supreme Court. The pro bono legal team for the defendants expressed disappointment (in Chinese) with the court’s failure to seek a constitutional court interpretation, as it believes that the crime of inciting others to commit crimes is unconstitutional.
Vietnam
A record number of delegates — 1,587 — representing more than 5.1 million Communist Party members will participate in the 13th National Party Congress that opens January 25. Women and ethnic minority groups account for 14% and 11% of the delegates, respectively. The congress will focus on the country’s social and economic development plan.
Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also state president, stressed the significance of the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 term, slated for May 23.