March 20-26
China
The Supreme People’s Court of China issued a judicial interpretation about evaluating and calculating mental damages in state compensation cases. According to the interpretation, which takes effect April 1, mental injuries resulting in serious consequences shall result in damages totaling no more than 50% of the total personal injury damages, while those suffering from especially serious consequences may be awarded greater damages.
Shenzhen has become China’s first city to issue anti-sexual harassment guidance for all government agencies, schools, and businesses. The guidance defines three types of sexual harassment and sets up practical proceedings to process complaints. The guidance was co-published by nine government departments including the municipal public security bureau, education bureau, and women’s federation.
Deputy Justice Minister Xiong Xuanguo told a press conference that within five years every county in China will have a legal aid center. China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee recently held the first reading of a draft legal aid law that would entitle every criminal defendant access to counsel.
The National People’s Congress Council of Chairpersons decided to convene the 27th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee from March 29 to 30. The Standing Committee will consider two bills to revise Annexes I and II to the Hong Kong Basic Law, which govern, respectively, the selection of Hong Kong’s chief executive and the formation of the city’s Legislative Council. The NPC Observer said the revisions are intended to implement the NPC’s recent decision to change Hong Kong’s election system.
Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who has been detained more than two years in China on espionage charges, had a closed-door court trial in Beijing on March 22. Canadian Embassy diplomats were barred from the trial. Another Canadian, businessman Michael Spavor, who was detained at about the same time as Kovrig also on espionage charges, was tried on March 19 in a similarly closed trial. The men’s detention on charges that have never publicly been explained is widely considered to be retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou under a US extradition warrant. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted angrily to the trials.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal ruled that the Department of Justice may apply the common law doctrine of “joint enterprise” with respect to suspects accused of rioting and unlawful assembly who were not present at the protests in question. The court said that a defendant’s physical presence is “not always necessary” for criminal liability, and that acting as a lookout, spreading social media messages “encouraging or promoting” the unlawful assembly and riot, or providing materials for the protest were roles that could trigger the joint enterprise doctrine. Simon Young, a barrister and law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the decision was “entirely sensible.” But he argued that people who simply “like” another person’s post on social media asserting a plan to commit rioting should not be deemed a party to criminal joint enterprise.
Eight Hong Kongers who were among a group of democracy activists who attempted to flee the territory by speedboat last year were handed over to the Hong Kong police after serving jail sentences in Shenzhen, China for illegal border crossing. The eight were fleeing because they faced charges in Hong Kong related to the 2019 protests. Those prosecutions will now be revived. Andy Li, one of the eight, has been charged under the new National Security Law with collusion with foreign powers, conspiracy to assist an offender, and possession of ammunition without a license. Li is set to appear in court again on March 31.
Bao Choy, an award-winning Hong Kong journalist, went on trial for allegedly violating the Road Traffic Ordinance when obtaining vehicle license plate information for a documentary about the police response to the 2019 Yuen Long mob attacks. The prosecution accused Choy of making false statements in the course of obtaining the information, as news investigations are not approved reasons for obtaining license plate data. Choy pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she could be sentenced up to six months in prison and a $644 fine.
A telephone survey by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Poll covering 1,001 randomly selected Cantonese-speaking adults found that public confidence in the city’s democracy, rule of law, and stability has fallen significantly in the past month, and reached a record low since the city was returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
With just one dissenting vote, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council approved new rules allowing “grossly disorderly” members to be suspended from meetings for at least a week, even though the chamber is almost entirely composed of pro-government lawmakers after the opposition quit last year.
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education announced that all schools in Hong Kong will be given a 48-volume boxed set of mainland-produced picture books entitled “My Home is in China” in an attempt to foster a sense of patriotism in students.
Japan
After revelations that personal data of users of the free messaging app Line had been accessible to a firm linked to China, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his administration has halted the app’s use by government officials. Some local governments, schools, and companies also have stopped using the service, but it is so widely used in Japan that dropping it is difficult. Each of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Personal Information Protection Commission have asked Line and its parent company Z Holdings Corp. to submit reports about how it handles users’ personal information. This is the first instance of an announcement being made about a request for such reports.
The Tokyo District Court rejected a claim for state compensation filed by Hiroyuki Konishi, an opposition lawmaker, who accused the Cabinet of violating his constitutional rights by denying his request and that of other lawmakers to convene an extraordinary Diet session. The court stated for the first time that the Cabinet is bound to obey Article 53 of the Constitution, which stipulates that an extraordinary Diet session must be convened upon the request of at least one-quarter of the members of either chamber. But the court rejected the claim for compensation on the grounds that Article 53 grants rights to Konishi as a Diet member, not as an individual whose only avenue for compensation is through the courts. The court stopped short of declaring that the Abe Cabinet violated the Constitution in 2017 when it failed to convene an extraordinary Diet session despite a request by opposition lawmakers under Article 53.
An American father and son, Michael Taylor and Peter Taylor, were formally charged by Japanese prosecutors on March 22 with helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan in December 2019. The Taylors were extradited from the U.S. and have been detained at a Tokyo detention center since March 2. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $2,900.
Former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai pleaded guilty to vote-buying and resigned from the Diet on March 23. According to the Public Offices Election Law, a Lower House by-election for Kawai’s constituency will not be held until October 21. The charges stem from payments to local politicians to help his wife, Anri, win her first Diet seat in the July 2019 Upper House election. Mrs. Kawai was found guilty on similar charges in January at the same court. She received a suspended sentence and lost her Upper House seat.
Koreas
Mun Chol Myong, an accused North Korean intelligence operative, appeared in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C. following extradition from Malaysia on money laundering charges. Mun is believed to be the first North Korean national to be extradited to the US to stand trial.
After 22 years of failing to approve anti-stalking legislation, South Korea’s National Assembly on March 24 passed the Stalking Crime Penalty Act. The act provides that persons who willfully and repeatedly approach or follow someone against their will can be jailed for up to five years. Anti-stalking activists expressed disappointment, saying the law is too weak.
The Migrants’ Trade Union called for improved working conditions at logistics firms in response to moves by the government to allow migrant laborers to work at logistics firms and distribution centers to address the industry’s manpower shortage. Delivery drivers in Korea have struggled to cope with the high volume of packages during the COVID-19 pandemic. A civic group surveyed 1,341 parcel delivery workers late last year and found that they were working an average of 71.3 hours per week with just 12.2 minutes per day for meals.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court commenced the nation’s first impeachment trial of a judge. Lim Seong-geun has been charged with abusing judicial power and obstructing other judges’ exercise of rights in several politically sensitive court cases.
An article in the East Asian Forum argues that South Korea’s economy may face a crisis unless the government reforms the chaebols, the family-controlled business conglomerates that dominate many sectors of the economy. The Moon Jae-in administration promised chaebol reform but has been slow to act.
South Korea revised the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles against Sexual Abuse. Online grooming, or luring minors through the internet to sexually illicit businesses, will be subject to criminal punishment from September 24, 2021. The new legislation is part of the government's efforts to crack down on digital crimes following a sexual exploitation ring that shocked the country last year.
Taiwan
The Supreme Court of Taiwan ruled that when evaluating newly discovered evidence, courts should presume that the petitioner’s claim is truthful until proven otherwise. The Taiwan Innocence Project described the ruling as a big step forward when challenging allegedly wrongful convictions. (in Chinese)
Members of the Economic Democracy Union, Taiwan Citizen Front, and legislators from pan-green parties proposed amending the Act Governing Relations With Hong Kong and Macau in response to recent political developments there. They expressed the hope that the government would sanction officials from the People’s Republic of China who violate the rights of the territories’ residents. The groups said their proposal was inspired by the 2019 U.S. Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which required the U.S.government to impose sanctions on PRC and Hong Kong officials considered responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong.
The Ministry of Labor amended the Employment Service Act to add blood type and astrological signs to the list of prohibited bases for discrimination in Article 5. The other prohibited bases are race, language, religion, gender, age, marital status, and other personal information. Violators may be fined up to $52,700.
Taiwan’s Cabinet approved a draft bill that would require employers of fewer than five people to enroll their workers in an occupational accident insurance program, which could result in an estimated 330,000 people receiving coverage. The current Labor Insurance Act requires only companies employing five or more workers to provide labor insurance. The draft bill will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review.
Vietnam
Vietnam’s National Assembly opened its annual plenary session on March 24 to elect the top government leaders for the next five years, namely state president, prime minister, and National Assembly chairperson. After opening ceremonies, legislators began reviewing work reports from the president, government, National Assembly Standing Committee, Council for Ethnic Affairs, and committees of the legislature, Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuracy, and State Auditor. Legislators also commented on the draft amended Law on Drug Prevention and Control. The session is scheduled to continue through April 8.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson demanded that China end its violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty in what Vietnam calls the East Sea and China calls the South China Sea. Vietnam also called on China to implement the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and comply with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, especially the obligation of self-restraint so as to not complicate the situation.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also called for protection of overseas Vietnamese citizens in the context of discrimination against Asians “in the US and some other countries.”
Vietnam’s Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung spoke at the 65th Session of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women. Dung said that as of September 2020, the proportion of women in Vietnam's National Assembly was 27.31% - higher than the global rate, that violence against women and girls is declining, and that all victims who escape human trafficking receive community reintegration services.