April 3 - April 9
China
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) requested all prosecutors’ office in the country to investigate and determine accountability for all wrongful conviction cases since 2018, subject to the review of the SPP and provincial prosecutor’s offices. (in Chinese)
The SPP released new statistics about crimes related to the internet. According to this report, internet crime increased 47.9% in 2020, among which online fraud and online gambling count for 64.4%. (in Chinese)
The government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has released the results of an investigation (in Chinese) holding 84 Communist Party cadres accountable for allowing a convicted killer to escape punishment, join the Communist Party, and even become a local representative. Batu Menghe was convicted of murder in 1993 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but family members who were local officials obtained his release on medical parole based on a fake diagnosis. The “serving a sentence on paper” scandal was exposed last year and an investigation was launched. Of the 84 officials who were implicated, 10 are under criminal investigation and others have been given non-criminal forms of discipline.
The SPP launched the second phase of a pilot program reforming how it handles suspected violations of law by private businesses. Prosecutors participating in the pilots are minimizing arrests and prosecutions within the scope of their legal discretion, and instead issuing warnings and education. The aim is to extend equal protection of the law to the private sector. The first phase of the pilot began in March 2020 at six local prosecutors’ offices, while the second phase will involve 1-2 offices in each of 10 provinces. (in Chinese)
China’s new Biosecurity Law aimed at preventing and managing infectious diseases takes effect on April 15. The law requires the government to establish systems for risk monitoring, early warning, investigation, and information sharing. Here is the text of the law in Chinese and English.
Here is the NPC Observer’s list of draft legislation that may be reviewed by the NPC Standing Committee in late April.
The China Justice Observer published an article unpacking China’s Supreme Court’s recently released Several Provisions on Providing Online Case-filing Services for Foreign Litigants (2021). The court announced it is providing an internet platform specifically for foreign parties to file cases with Chinese courts. It is also streamlining various case-filing requirements and procedures for foreign parties.
The intermediate court in Hangzhou has upheld a lower court judgment requiring Hangzhou Safari Park to pay 1,038 yuan ($158) in compensation to a local resident who objected to the park’s use of facial recognition technology to gain entry. It is believed to be China’s first facial recognition lawsuit. The intermediate court also ordered the park to delete the resident’s fingerprint information.
Hong Kong
Chief Executive Carrie Lam pledged to submit a bill to tackle “doxxing” officials within the current legislative term. She said the government will propose amendments to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance to criminalise doxxing – the release on the internet of personal information. Lam also said the Hong Kong’s government has been the “biggest victim of fake news,” but her administration may not be able to submit a bill on tackling “fake news” this legislative year.
A survey by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute found that the public perception of the independence and credibility of Hong Kong’s news media has dropped to a record low, with more people sensing a reluctance to criticize authorities. In its annual human rights report released on April 7, Amnesty International said that Hong Kong’s press freedom and and independent media institutions are “increasingly under threat” and subject to “unprecedented” pressure.
The Court of Appeals has ruled that Hong Kong’s ban on wearing masks at unlawful assemblies is constitutional, overturning a lower court decision. However, the ruling agreed with the lower court that the ban on facial coverings at lawful public gatherings and the power granted to police officers to remove masks are unconstitutional.
Three veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, including well-known publisher Jimmy Lai, ex-legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, and the former chairman of the Democratic Party, Yeng Sum, pleaded guilty to taking part in an unauthorized rally in 2019 that led to violence between police and participants.
Taiwan
The Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee took steps to require the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to turn in all documents related to the derailment of the Taroko Express No. 408 in Hualien County. The crash killed 50 people and injured more than 200. Article 45 of the Law Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) authorizes it to establish a document request committee or an ad hoc task force to request information from government agencies in specific cases.
Civic groups Taiwan Women’s Link and Taiwan Association for Human Rights criticized the Ministry of Health and Welfare for a recent amendment to the Regulations Governing Collection and Review of Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund (預防接種受害救濟基金徵收及審議辦法). The groups said that one of the changes puts the risk of adverse vaccine reactions on vaccine recipients, which could discourage people from getting vaccinated. The amendments were promulgated in February.
Taiwan celebrated April 7 as its sixth Freedom of Speech Day. The day was declared in 2016 by the Executive Yuan to commemorate the death of democracy activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕, also known as Nylon Cheng). Mr. Deng founded the magazine Freedom Era Weekly in 1984 to fight for “100 percent freedom of speech,” and was charged with sedition for having printed a draft “Republic of Taiwan constitution” in 1988. He died by self-immolation on April 7, 1989, as police broke into his office after he had been barricaded inside for 71 days to avoid arrest.
A commentary in the Taipei Times expressed support for pending legislation that would allow more private sector, including corporate, funding of Taiwan’s public universities. The draft legislation would also relax various restrictions related to hiring teachers.
Japan
A group of United Nations' experts said proposed revisions to Japan's Immigration Control Law could violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because it maintains the principle of detaining people suspected of being subject to deportation and lacks provisions on the maximum detention period and judicial review of decisions on detention.
The organizing committee for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics is consulting with police over the leak of internal documents related to the opening ceremony to the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, which published them. The committee accused the magazine of violating the Copyright Law and demanded that it collect all copies of the offending issue and delete online copies. Legal experts said the organizing committee’s protests could threaten constitutionally protected freedom of expression.
Koreas
Newly effective revisions to the Labor Standards Act give employers more flexibility in implementing the legal 52-hour weekly cap on employees’ work hours. Businesses have complained of difficulties in meeting production deadlines since the maximum allowed for employees’ regular work plus overtime was reduced in 2018 from 68 hours to 52. Under the revised law, employers can calculate employees’ work hours over a six-month period, rather than the previous three months, to determine whether they are within the 52-hour cap.
Civic group Gabjil 119 said that the latest changes to the Workplace Harassment Prevention Law only protect directly employed workers from harassment by their employers, but fail to protect subcontractors or address harassment by customers. South Korea has been struggling to curtail the practice of “gabjil,” or abuse of power by people occupying higher rungs in workplace hierarchies.
A North Korean organization demanded that Japan apologize and provide compensation for its colonial-era atrocities, and called for the end of hostile policies against Pyongyang. Historians say that Japan forcibly drafted millions of Korean men into the Japanese workforce during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.
Vietnam
Vietnam’s National Assembly elected Pham Minh Chinh, 63, who rose through the ranks of Vietnam’s national security apparatus and has a doctorate in law, to be the country’s next prime minister. He is tasked with reviving the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic while navigating rising US-China tensions. Outgoing Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 66, was elected president.
The Ministry of Finance is working on two draft legal documents on tax administration, aiming to close current loopholes in the tax systems, especially those related to collection of taxes on e-commerce and digital platform-based trading activities.
The Ministry of Public Security released the second draft of a decree on protection of personal data, providing that personal data processors that violate regulations on personal data will be subject to a maximum fine of VND 80-100 million (USD 3,400-4,300).