May 29-June 4
China
The newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors (paywalled) took effect on June 1, International Children’s Day. Significant provisions include: 1) mandatory use of child safety seats; 2) mandatory software to protect minors from harmful online content and obligations on parents, schools and others to prevent minors’ internet addiction; 3) mandatory reporting of violations of minors’ rights and interests; 4) mandatory ID verification and other checks when minors check into hotels; and 5) mandatory background checks for employees in facilities with proximity to children. Also taking effect the same day: the revised Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, which lowers the age of criminal liability to 12 for certain crimes. The Ministry of Education released the Provisions on School’s Protection of Minors (paywalled) to regulate bullying and sexual assault on campus.
Chinese married couples will be allowed to have up to three children, a major policy shift from the existing two-child limit, after census data showed a dramatic decline in births. The decision was made by the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee (in Chinese). The NPC Observer recounted the gradual process by which authorities have raised the cap on births, which for several decades was set at one child for most couples. The legal requirement for Chinese citizens to comply with official birth policies remains in place.
The Supreme People’s Court released 10 typical internet -related cases (in Chinese), three of which were related to internet courts. The three internet courts in Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou have closed more than 200,000 cases since being established in 2018.
China’s revised Copyright Law (paywalled) took effect on June 1, 2021, increasing the ceiling for statutory damages from the current CNY 500,000 (approximately $78,515) to CNY 5 million.
The People’s Bank of China released draft revisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law for public comment through June 30 (in Chinese). Also from China Law & Practice: The Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress released draft Data Regulations for public comment through June 15 (in Chinese), and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a Circular on Revising Matters Relevant to Examination and Approval of Entertainment Venues and Internet Service Business Sites (in Chinese), which will remove the cap on foreign investment in entertainment venues in China.
Local procuratorates along the Grand Canal have carried out a coordinated public interest litigation campaign in an effort to better protect the environment, cultural heritage, and public security on and around the canal. The SPP released information relating to 13 of the cases (in Chinese) and said that prosecutors had opened a total of 464 investigations since the campaign began in February 2020.
Wang Chen, a member of the CCP Politburo and the vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, marked the 10th anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of the Law on Intangible Cultural Heritage (paywalled) by urging continued efforts to implement the law.
Hong Kong
The Executive Council approved new rules requiring buyers of pre-paid local SIM cards to register their real names and allowing law enforcement agencies to access users’ personal information without a warrant when investigating crime. Caps will also be set for the number of cards that individuals and companies can buy. The new rules take effect in March 2022. More than half of mobile cards currently in use in Hong Kong are unregistered pre-paid SIM cards.
Victoria Park was empty on June 4 for the first time in 32 years as police surrounded it to block the annual vigil to commemorate the victims of China’s 1989 violent suppression of student-led protests. The Security Bureau of Hong Kong released a statement on May 29, saying that the public meetings and procession planned for May 29 and June 4 were unauthorized assemblies and anyone advertising, publicizing, or taking part in them may violate the law. On the morning of June 4, police arrested Chow Hang-tung, vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organizes the annual vigils, accusing her of continuing to publicize the vigil despite the ban. Several other arrests were also reported.
Baroness Brenda Hale, president of the British Supreme Court until 2020 and a non-permanent judge on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal since 2018, will step down when her three-year term expires next month. The Times of London quoted her as telling an online forum that COVID-19 restrictions made it difficult to travel to Hong Kong. It also quoted her as saying that “the jury is still out” on implementation of the National Security Law. A statement from Hong Kong’s Judiciary said Judge Hale is stepping down because of personal reasons.
The Law Society, the professional association for Hong Kong solicitors, condemned acts of intimidation against the judiciary after District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock received threatening phone calls. Woodcock recently sentenced several high-profile pro-democracy activists to prison. Hong Kong’s Bar Association, which represents barristers, also condemned the acts of intimidation. The China Liaison Office and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council in Beijing and Hong Kong’s Department of Justice also issued statements.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Health Secretary Sophia Chan said at the launch of a pro-vaccination campaign that the government may consider banning unvaccinated persons from entering some venues if Hong Kong experiences a fifth wave of coronavirus infections. Those who are medically unfit for vaccination would be exempted. Hong Kong Patients’ Voices, a patient rights group, said such bans could deprive people of basic rights.
Japan
Legislators in Japan introduced a bill to make it harder for teachers who were fired for disciplinary reasons, including sexual acts against students, to regain their teaching license. The bill also proposes creating a government database of violators, which prefectural councils and private schools could access.
The Japan Advocacy Network for Drug Policy (JANDP), backed by the Asian Division of Human Rights Watch, submitted a written request to Japan's health minister asking the government to reconsider its plans to criminalize cannabis use in the Cannabis Control Law. JANDP expressed concern that a harsher law could result in persons convicted of minor drug offenses being denied jobs and housing, leading them into a “vicious cycle” of poverty and crime.
Japanese sexual minority groups and their supporters submitted requests to the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to enact a LGBTQ law before the Tokyo Olympics. Major corporations in Japan have endorsed the proposed law. The International Olympic Committee also issued a statement stressing the importance of inclusivity in sports. Prospects for passage of the legislation before the current parliamentary session ends next week are uncertain because of strong resistance from conservatives in the LDP.
A draft bill that would enable Japan to ratify the International Labor Organization’s Abolition of Forced Labor Convention passed at a Lower House plenary session. Japan is one of only nine of the ILO’s 187 member nations that have not ratified the convention. Japan has several laws that provide for imprisonment with hard labor. The proposed legal revision would change “imprisonment with hard labor” to “imprisonment without hard labor.”
A revised child care law passed in the Diet on June 3 requires businesses to encourage new fathers to take parental leave. Fewer than 10% of fathers have been utilizing the parental leave system. Under the new law, beginning in April 2022, employers will need to personally encourage new fathers to take time off.
Koreas
Kim Oh-soo was appointed as the new prosecutor-general of South Korea, a position that had been vacant since Yoon Seok-youl resigned in early March in apparent protest against President Moon Jae-in’s reforms of the powerful Supreme Prosecutor’s Office. Kim is a veteran prosecutor who served as vice minister of justice for nearly two years. Reform of the prosecutor’s office, long accused of having excessive power, was one of Moon's campaign pledges. It has produced fierce political controversies, including a backlash from a number of senior prosecutors.
South Korea’s National Police Agency said there were 333 cryptocurrency-related fraud cases in 2020, more than three times as many as the year before. In many of these cases, the scammers defrauded investors by promising high returns in a Ponzi scheme. Many of the victims are senior citizens.
South Korea’s Ministry of Justice's draft revision of the Nationality Act, which allows children of permanent residents with “close ties” to South Korea to easily acquire citizenship, triggered protest from people who suspect the change would largely benefit Chinese residents. A petition opposing the revision has drawn more than 317,000 signatures on a government website.
A survey by Kyung Hee University in South Korea found that 24.3% of graduate students experienced sexual harassment or assault during their coursework. More than 6 out of every 10 cases of sexual violence against them were committed by their professors. Eighty-three male students and 230 females students participated in the survey.
Taiwan
Lawmakers amended the Criminal Code to remove the article that criminalized adultery, one year after the Constitutional Court voided the provision as unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court upheld the provision as recently as 2002 but changed its position in 2020 because of changes in how marriage and family are viewed in society and similar actions by other countries.
The Legislative Yuan passed Taiwan’s first Space Development Law, which declares the Ministry of Science and Technology is the sole authority responsible for Taiwan’s space activities and for the establishment of launch sites. Taiwan has its own satellite launch program.
A commentary in the Taipei Times introduced Taiwan’s efforts to revise its laws to implement the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol. The Executive Yuan has already adopted a bill with this objective. The article urged the Legislative Yuan to promptly ratify the convention and amend the Criminal Code, and other relevant agencies to prepare to implement it.