June 12-June 18
China
The draft of China’s first law on compulsory enforcement of civil judgments will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for consideration during its June 21-24 session. The draft law is composed of 207 articles including detailed provisions on the enforcement agency and personnel, basis for enforcement, and procedures and remedies. Seven other bills will be reviewed at the Standing Committee session.
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued a judicial interpretation on the application of law in civil disputes over forest resources. The SPC also released ten typical cases involving civil disputes over forest resources.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong has published a bill to amend the occupational health and safety regime by increasing the penalties for occupational safety and health offenses and increasing the protections available to workers. The proposed reforms now include increasing penalties for offenses, extending the time limits for prosecution, making offenses triable by indictment, and requiring the court to take into account the turnover of the responsible entities when determining the amount of a fine.
Japan
Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that the government is not liable for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, dismissing thousands of evacuees’ demands that the state compensate them for damages caused by the event. The court said the government cannot be held liable because the damage from a massive tsunami could not have been prevented even if the industry minister had used his regulatory authority and ordered the utility to enhance a seawall in light of then-prevailing tsunami estimates. The ruling reversed three of the four high court prior decisions that declared the government responsible, and could affect about 30 similar lawsuits pending across the country. Hundreds of plaintiffs and their supporters outside the court showed anger and disappointment, but many said they will continue their fight in the pending cases.
The upper house of Japan’s legislature passed a bill to introduce tougher punishments for online insults. Currently punishable by less than 30 days’ detention and a fine of less than 10,000 yen, insults could be punished in future by one year in prison and a 300,000-yen fine. The statute of limitations will also be extended to three years, from the current one year. Because of concerns that the law could stifle free speech including legitimate criticism of public officials, the bill was passed with a supplementary provision that requires a review within three years to determine its effects. Victims of online slander hope the revisions will deter people from posting offensive materials online.
The same plenary session of the House of Councillors also revised the penal code to eliminate mandatory work for prison inmates, allowing more time for rehabilitative guidance and education. The change takes effect in three years.
Japan passed its first law aimed at protecting people from being pressured into appearing in porn films. The law allows those who appear in adult movies to cancel their contracts within a year of the work's release for any reason and without paying penalty fees. Lawmakers began lobbying for the new rules when Japan lowered its age of adulthood from 20 to 18 years in April. This raised concerns that recruiters would target 18- and 19-year-olds, who previously had the right to withdraw from contracts signed without a guardian's permission.
Koreas
Five months after the enactment of South Korea’s first anti-stalking law, more than 5,000 people have been apprehended for alleged stalking behavior. Stalkers can face up to three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won ($23,300) for stalking or repeatedly harassing an individual by approaching, following, or blocking them against their will.
A report from the Korea Labor and Society Institute said about 6,500 workers with disabilities were excluded from the minimum wage rule as of August 2021. Due to this exclusion, their average monthly wage was less than 20 percent of the minimum wage. By law, the minimum wage does not apply to employees “with a very limited working capacity due to a mental or physical disability and other employees to whom it is deemed inappropriate to apply the minimum wage.”
Taiwan
Taiwan has published its fourth country report on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), according to Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng. Among other things, it reported that 70 percent of domestic violence victims in Taiwan between 2017 and 2020 were women. Reports of domestic violence increased during that period, from 110,000 reported incidents in 2017 to more than 120,000 per year during 2018-2020. Taiwan is not a UN member and therefore does not participate in formal reviews by UN treaty bodies, but the government invites outside experts to conduct independent reviews. The Executive Yuan proposed amending the Domestic Violence Prevention Act to reflect the nature of domestic violence as a reflection of gender inequality, improve violence prevention education, and empower victims to decide whether to allow governments intervene in a domestic situation.