November 13-19
China
Three men are being investigated by the Xinjiang Cyberspace Administration for “disrupting public order on the internet and causing adverse social impact” by flooding a live-streamed official press conference with “malicious” comments about COVID-19 controls. The comments flooding was likely an attempt to draw attention to food shortages, denials of medical care, and hardships suffered by residents under COVID lockdowns.
Three courts in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei agreed to work together to strengthen legal protection of intellectual property. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court, Tianjin No. 3 Intermediate Court, and Xiong'an New Area Intermediate Court agreed to increase training, information sharing, and exchanges related to intellectual property cases.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released seven typical cases involving fraud targeting the elderly, including six criminal cases and one public interest administrative case initiated by a procuratorate. The SPP told news media that during a “special action” targeting fraud crimes against the elderly, prosecutorial organs nationwide approved the arrest of 7,594 defendants and initiated 8,516 prosecutions. The SPP also released four typical cases involving illegal mining of mineral resources.
The Haidian District Court in Beijing sentenced a teacher to prison for repeatedly molesting a 10-year-old student and imposed a lifetime ban on the teacher from working in close contact with minors. The court became the first in China to issue a lifetime ban under the Opinion on Implementing the System for Prohibiting Employment issued by the Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and Ministry of Education. The Opinion took effect the day of sentencing. In the past, the longest ban courts could issue on working with minors was five years.
The Futian District Court in Shenzhen issued a decision in the first case in which a Hong Kong-licensed lawyer was allowed to represent a client in a mainland court. The case was a contract dispute involving real estate in Shenzhen, but all the parties were Hong Kong permanent residents and numerous Hong Kong laws were relevant. The bars of Hong Kong and mainland China are completely separate. Hong Kong has a common law system closely modeled on that of the UK, its longtime colonial ruler, while mainland China has a civil law system.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee ordered police to investigate how a protest song came to be played at the Asia Rugby Sevens final between Hong Kong and South Korea instead of the Chinese national anthem. Event organizers played an instrumental version of “Glory to Hong Kong,” an unofficial anthem of Hong Kong’s 2019 street protests, as the teams lined up for the men’s final in Incheon stadium in South Korea. The Organized Crime and Triad Bureau is investigating whether the National Anthem Law, National Security Law, or other laws were violated.
The Equal Opportunities Commission issued guidelines to promote equal access to justice for people with hearing loss. The 38-page guideline is intended for use by lawyers, judges, judicial officials, court staff and others. It says courts should formulate and review policies or practice directions to address the needs of persons with hearing issues and other disabilities; it also recommends regular training of law practitioners on the Disability Discrimination Ordinance.
Japan
More details emerged of legislation being drafted by the government to regulate religious organizations’ solicitation of donations. It would spell out banned solicitation practices and make it possible for donors to rescind their donations if the organizations engaged in the banned practices. One draft provision would make it possible for children to rescind their parents’ donations in some circumstances.
A Justice Ministry panel suggested the possibility of allowing divorced couples to have joint custody of their children. Currently only one parent can have “parental authority,” including the rights to custody, daily personal care, managing the child’s assets, and signing contracts on behalf of the child. Critics said joint custody could endanger children and parents.
The Tokyo District Court ordered a man and woman to pay ¥500 million in damages to 13 major film production companies for uploading 10 minute-long edited versions of films on video-sharing sites without permission. It was the first court decision in Japan on the amount of damages to be awarded for such unauthorized uploads. The film industry has said “fast movies” are partly responsible for a decline in moviegoers.
Koreas
Seoul Southern District Court approved local prosecutors’ request to freeze about US$104 million in assets belonging to Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-seung, also known as Daniel Shin. Prosecutors said they suspect Shin of selling Luna, one of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrencies, and pocketing illegal profits. Luna and TerraUSD later massively lost value. Terraform Labs has been under investigation for alleged fraud and tax evasion.
The UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, is visiting Seoul and Gwangju from Nov. 16 to Nov. 21 to discuss the role South Korea can play in resolving the crisis in Myanmar. He is meeting with UN officials, foreign policy experts, civil society organizations, members of the Myanmar diaspora, and representatives of companies that have invested or have an interest in Myanmar.
Prosecutor General Lee One-seok met with the PRC ambassador to South Korea to discuss measures to strengthen the two countries’ cooperation in fighting crime. He stressed the need for cooperation to crack down on China-based voice phishing organizations that target Koreans.
Taiwan
High-school students demonstrated in support of students’ rights as a panel of experts reviewed Taiwan’s progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The students gathered in front of the Taipei International Convention Center where the review meeting was held and called attention to strict school regulations on hair, clothes, and other matters. The expert panel presented 72 concluding observations at a news conference at the end of the week. A group of young protesters interrupted the news conference and urged the government to investigate the causes of suicide among children and young people.
The Constitutional Court was scheduled to hear arguments about whether an article in the Civil Code limiting the circumstances in which couples can file for divorce contravenes the Constitution’s protection of individual freedom. The article says that a husband or wife can petition for divorce upon the occurrence of an event that renders it difficult to maintain the marriage; however, if one party is “responsible for the event,” they may not file for divorce. Judge Chu from Kaohsiung Juvenile and Family Court sought the constitutional interpretation based on three cases that are before him. Chu said the Civil Code clause contravenes the right to divorce as protected under Article 22 of the constitution, and also contradicts previous rulings by the court.