October 23-29
China
The all-male Politburo of China’s Communist Party selected in the wake of the 20th National Party Congress drew criticism for its extreme gender inequality. It is the first time in 25 years that not a single woman is serving as either a full member or alternate member of the powerful party body.
A third draft of revisions to the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests (妇女权益保障法) was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress after extensive public input. The law was originally enacted in 1992 and revised in 2005. An NPC spokesperson said the revisions are based on China's national conditions and do not copy Western practices. Chinese media reports said the state shall take necessary measures to promote gender equality and eliminate any forms of discrimination against women.
The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued Opinions on Further Enhancing the Pilot Work of Full-Coverage of Lawyers’ Defense Representation in Criminal Cases (关于进一步深化刑事案件律师辩护全覆盖试点工作的意见). China began pilot programs five years ago to provide lawyers to all defendants in criminal trials. The new document extends coverage from the trial phase to the earlier phase of prosecutorial review before indictment. Eligible defendants include those facing a minimum of three years’ imprisonment if convicted.
Hong Kong
The Security Bureau said that as of August 31, 2022, a total of 10,279 people were apprehended by the police in connection with the 2019 protests, including 1,754 minors. A total of 2,893 people, including 517 minors, were prosecuted for offenses linked to the protests, and 1,631 were given prison sentences, community service orders, probation, or binding-over orders. Legal punishments were imposed on 353 defendants who were minors at the time of their arrest, with the heaviest sentence being 5.5 years in prison. Persons under 21 are sent to training centers rather than prison, where the Security Bureau said they must take part in Chinese-style foot drills, with rigorous discipline and tough physical exercise.
A court convicted Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai and Wong Wai-keung, the administrative director of Apple Daily’s parent company Next Digital, of fraud after being found to have violated the terms of the lease for the newspaper’s headquarters. The US Department of State said in a statement that the verdict was based on “spurious fraud charges.” This brought strong responses from both Beijing and Hong Kong. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 24. Lai remains in custody and Wang remains on bail. Lai also faces charges under the colonial-era sedition law.
Hong Kong’s legislature passed an ordinance to implement the 2019 Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed in 2019. The Hong Kong government indicated that the ordinance will come into effect in about six to seven months after necessary mechanisms in both jurisdictions are established. It will allow a broader range of civil and commercial judgments of the mainland Chinese courts to be enforced in Hong Kong and vice versa.
The Hong Kong Public Libraries added new rules for writing contests for adults and children, stating that submissions must not breach Hong Kong laws, including the National Security Law. In the case of a breach, the participant must take responsibility, including bearing the government’s legal costs and damages.
Japan
The Innocence Project Japan, founded in 2016 at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, launched a crowdfunding campaign to support its work representing people who have been convicted of crimes but maintain their innocence and seek exoneration through retrial. The organization has screened 450 cases to date. Through crowdfunding it has raised more than 3 million yen ($20,700) in a few days, surpassing its initial goal of 2 million yen for October.
The Legislative Council of the Justice Ministry released its draft of Penal Code revisions intended widen the definition of sex crimes. The draft raises the age of consent from 13 to 16, and lists eight actions that may be criminally punished under the category of “forced sexual intercourse,” including acts where the victim finds it impossible to ward off an attack. Advocates for rape victims want the law to clearly stipulate that “sexual intercourse without consent is a crime.” Victims currently must prove they fought back or lacked the capacity to do so.
Koreas
South Korea’s Ministry of Justice announced plans to counter the rising frequency and violent nature of juvenile crime, including capping the age at which youth are tried under the Juvenile Act at 13. Currently, offenders who are 10- to 14-years-old are tried under the Juvenile Act, with a maximum sentence of two years in a juvenile detention center regardless of the severity of the crime. President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged during his campaign to lower the age cap to 12.
Civic groups and some lawmakers are urging the government to speed up the process of approving abortion pills for sale in South Korea. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that a ban on abortion was unconstitutional, but the National Assembly has failed to revise the relevant law. Women currently can only access abortion pills on online black markets.
Taiwan
The Constitutional Court unanimously rejected as unconstitutional the legal provisions under which the indigenous Pingpu tribes were denied formal indigenous status, and it ordered new rules to be drafted within three years. The case began with a lawsuit filed by 100 activists from the Siraya tribe, the largest of the Pingpu tribes, against the Council of Indigenous Peoples in 2012. The ruling does not guarantee that the tribes will succeed in gaining official recognition.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by two Sunflower Movement protesters who were sentenced to four months in prison for smashing police barricades. The Sunflower Movement was a student-led demonstration that included a 24-day occupation of Taiwan's legislature in March 2014. The students demanded more transparency around a trade-in-services agreement with China, which was subsequently shelved.