January 30-February 5
China
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on February 4 released a new judicial interpretation of China’s revised Criminal Procedure Law. It contains 655 articles, making it the lengthiest SPC’s judicial interpretation to date, and takes effect March 1, 2021. The interpretation fills in more details with respect to fast-track sentencing procedures, trial procedures for defendants who plead guilty, and procedures for rendering default judgments. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the revised Criminal Procedure Law in October 2018, the third revision after the law was first promulgated in 1979. (in Chinese)
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released 5 typical cases involving infringement of defense lawyers’ rights during the course of their representation of clients in criminal procedures. Prosecutors’ office throughout China received more than 2,000 complaints from defense lawyers in 2020. This is the first batch of cases of this type released by the SPP. (in Chinese)
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate also released 11 typical cases concerning internet crimes. Among these were criminal cases involving fraud, illegal business operations, organizing pyramid schemes, infringing on personal information, gambling and racketeering, as well as an administrative suit brought by a local prosecutors’ office against an online platform for violating fair competition rules. (in Chinese)
ByteDance Ltd., owner of the video apps Douyin and TikTok, filed a lawsuit in Beijing on February 2 against Tencent Holdings Ltd., alleging that Tencent violates antitrust law by blocking access to content from Douyin on its Wechat and QQ platform. ByteDance asked the court to order Tencent to cease its actions and pay $14 million in compensation.
The Legal Aid Research Institute of the China University of Politics and Law released a report about the top ten events that promoted legal protection for the elderly in China in 2020. The institute recently released similar lists of legal events in 2020 that promoted the legal rights of the disabled and juveniles. (in Chinese)
High-profile convicted killer Wang Shujin was executed in Hebei Province on February 2 after his death sentence for multiple rapes and killings was approved by the Supreme People’s Court. Wang became notorious in 2005 when, after being arrested in connection with the rapes and murders for which he was ultimately executed, he also confessed to committing a 1994 rape-murder for which another man, Nie Shubin, had been executed in 1995. Despite Wang’s confession, he was never tried for the 1995 rape-murder. However, Nie Shubin was posthumously exonerated in 2016.
Police in Beijing, Jiangsu and Shandong have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that was manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines, including for export.
The Henan Province Justice Department revoked the law license of Ren Quanniu on February 2, stating that comments he made in court in 2018 when defending Falun Gong practitioners caused a “negative impact on society.” Ren believes the real reason is that he represented one of 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were intercepted at sea trying to flee to Taiwan and accused of border-crossing offenses. Another lawyer who tried to represent one of the Hong Kong activists, Lu Siwei, had his license revoked by authorities in Sichuan Province on January 15.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council met February 3 to discuss amending its house rules including reducing the size of committees, limiting time for debate and the length of adjournments, and taking away legislators’ power to demand a quorum count. Paul Tse, chairman of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, said suggestions were made to balance “the effective operation of the council and the right of speech of legislators.” The Legislative Council no longer has any opposition lawmakers after the pro-democracy camp resigned en masse in November in solidarity with four colleagues who had been disqualified by the government.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced plans to submit five major legislative proposals to the Legislative Council as it “returned to normal” following the departure of the pan-democrats. The proposals include an oath-taking requirement for persons holding public office, tackling dissemination of “fake news” and hate speech, outlawing doxxing, allowing overseas trained doctors to practice in Hong Kong, tenancy controls, and fire safety standards.
Hong Kong’s Education Bureau has called on schools to teach children as young as six about the National Security Law. The topic is to be included in subjects ranging from geography to biology. Schools are also instructed to inform police and parents about incidents involving “political propaganda.”
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chi-Kwong announced that Hong Kong’s statutory minimum wage of $4.84/hour will remain at its current level. The rate was last increased in 2019, and is subject to review every two years. The People’s Alliance for Living Wages, a local group advocating for a living wage, said the government’s decision was “totally disrespectful” to grassroots workers, especially to cleaners working on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prominent Hong Kong democracy advocate and newspaper founder Jimmy Lai remains in custody awaiting a decision from the Court of Final Appeal about his bail application. He appeared in the court on February 1 to contest an attempt by the government to keep him in jail while facing charges under the National Security Law.
The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China on February 3 nominated the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers were given short-term residency in Taiwan in 2020, almost double the previous year’s total, according to the National Immigration Agency. Taiwan does not have an asylum or refugee law, nor does it accept refugee applications. But Hong Kongers can apply to live in Taiwan through other channels, including by obtaining investment visas.
New research from the University of Hong Kong found that the current coding system for the wildlife trade used by customs authorities worldwide is too vague to prevent the over-exploitation of both legal and illegally-sourced species.
Japan
The Diet passed legislation on February 3 authorizing the government to fine people and businesses that violate measures imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses may be fined up to $3,000 if they violate operating-hour restrictions. Infected persons who refuse hospitalization may be fined up to $5,000. Persons who do not cooperate with public health officials conducting infection tests or interviews may be fined up to $3,000. The new rules are expected to take effect mid-February.
The National Police Agency released data on February 5 showing that the number of crimes recorded in Japan in 2020 hit the lowest level in the postwar era for the sixth straight year. Street crime declined sharply as people stayed home due to the pandemic, but the number of consultations on domestic violence and cybercrime reached record-high levels.
The Sapporo District Court refused compensation for a married couple who claimed that the wife was forcibly sterilized and coerced into an abortion under the now-abolished Eugenic Protection Law because of her intellectual disability. A number of lawsuits have been filed in Japan by those forcibly sterilized to “prevent the birth of inferior offspring.” In this case, the court rejected the couple’s factual allegations. Some courts have ruled that the Eugenic Protection Law was unconstitutional, but the district court did not touch upon constitutionality.
The Supreme Court ruled that construction materials companies must be held accountable for not acting earlier to prevent health damage from asbestos inhalation among former construction workers. The decision could have wide-ranging ramifications as 24 similar lawsuits have been filed around Japan by former construction workers and family members of deceased workers. The court ordered the central government and eight construction materials companies to pay $2.9 million in compensation.
The Tokyo High Court ordered the operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to pay damages to evacuated residents, but reversed an earlier ruling by Maebashi District Court that also acknowledged the central government's responsibility in the 2011 nuclear crisis.
Human Rights Watch published an article urging the Japanese government to pass legislation to protect LGBT people and workers before the Tokyo Olympics. According to a 2020 study by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 36% of lesbian, gay or bisexual people and 55% of transgender people report they experienced difficulties in the workplace. A new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranked Japan second worst among all OECD member countries in basic legal protections for LGBT people. A recent study showed that 88% of Japanese agrees the country needs a law to protect LGBT people.
Koreas
South Korea on February 4 impeached a sitting judge for the first time in its history. Lawmakers voted to remove Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court, for meddling in a number of politically controversial trials during the Park Geun-hye administration. As Lim’s term as a senior judge is set to expire in late February, the impeachment may fail to gain official confirmation from the Constitutional Court before Lim retires.
South Korea’s Supreme Court on February 4 upheld the guilty convictions of dozens of former and current Samsung executives accused of sabotaging labor union activities at a subsidiary company in 2013.
The Korean Advanced Farmers Federation is protesting stricter regulations on living shelters for foreign laborers, claiming the measures are poorly devised and demanding more support from the government. In the wake of the death of a Cambodian worker in a greenhouse where the temperature fell to minus 18 degrees Celsius, the Labor Ministry announced last December that it would reject employment permit applications from employers that offer unsuitable shelters. The new policy took effect on January 1.
A Harvard professor has provoked fury in South Korea for his assertion that Korean “comfort women” during the Japanese occupation were not sex slaves but recruited and contracted sex workers. J. Mark Ramseyer’s paper “Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War” is being published in the March issue of the International Review of Law and Economics. Because Ramseyer’s professorship is the Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies and he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government in 2018, critics have questioned Ramseyer’s objectivity. Ramseyer responded to the criticism in an interview with the Harvard Crimson.
More than 87,000 people had signed a petition as of February 3 to deny social welfare benefits to Cho Doo-soon, a convicted child rapist who was released from prison in December, and his wife. Cho, who is 68, and his wife, who is unable to work, are receiving basic livelihood grants of $1,080/month and a senior citizen pension of $268/month. On Dec. 11, 2008, Cho kidnapped, beat and raped an 8-year-old girl on her way to school. He served 12 years in prison.
Taiwan
Lawyer Liao Yuanqing (廖元慶) has published an in-depth analysis of the preliminary decision issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in an anti-dumping case against automobile tires imported from Taiwan. (in Chinese)
A doctor and former vice president of a local hospital who had been sought as a witness in ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption and money laundering case, has died in California. Huang Fang-yen (黃芳彥), who had been a physician for Chen’s wife, fled to the U.S. to avoid Taiwanese prosecutors. Meanwhile, members of the Democratic Progressive Party in the Legislative Yuan called for amending the law regarding the use of a special presidential fund. Misuse of this fund had been one of the charges against ex-President Chen. (in Chinese).
Vietnam
The eight-day 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam concluded on Monday, February 1 - a day earlier than planned due to an outbreak of COVID-19 near Hanoi - with the election of 76-year-old Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to an unprecedented third five-year term after party factions were unable to agree on a successor. Analysis of the Congress can be found here, here, and here.
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the immediate and long-term tasks of Vietnam and the Assembly require the legislative body to continue reforms to enhance efficiency, contribute more to national development and international integration, and carry out the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.