February 19-25
China
The 13th National People’s Congress Standing Committee appointed He Rong, executive vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, as the new minister of justice. It took the action at the final meeting of its five-year term before a new National People’s Congress (NPC) convenes in March. The Standing Committee also certified the recent election of 2,977 delegates to the next NPC and approved a draft agenda for the March plenary session, at which additional changes in senior government posts and institutions are expected. Finally, it passed the Decision on Temporarily Adjusting the Application of Certain Provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law to the Military During Wartime (关于军队战时调整适用刑事诉讼法部分规定的决定), empowering the Central Military Commission to make extensive changes to criminal procedure.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) published provisional rules to regulate offshore listings, opening the door to reviving foreign initial public offerings by Chinese firms after a regulatory freeze imposed in July 2021. The CSRC will vet offshore listings and oversee offshore listings of Chinese firms with variable interest entity structures. The rules stress China’s national interest and will take effect on March 31, 2023.
The Supreme People’s Court released a Chinese-English bilingual report summarizing the major judicial reforms implemented in Chinese courts from 2013-2022. The report, which updates a similar report issued five years ago, includes a detailed chronology of specific reform measures and documents.
Two Tsinghua University students who were disciplined for distributing rainbow flags on campus sued the Ministry of Education, asking it to review the penalty. Tsinghua’s student affairs office gave the two women formal disciplinary warnings in July 2022 after they left 10 rainbow flags in a campus supermarket. They appealed the disciplinary action within the university, then to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, without success. They went to court after the ministry dismissed their application for administrative review.
Hong Kong
The Immigration Department revoked the work visa of a Chinese scientist who was jailed in mainland China after producing the world’s first gene-edited babies. He Jiankui (贺建奎) had been awarded the visa under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, a new Hong Kong government program intended to spur the economy by attracting global talent. The department said it suspected that He made false statements in his application.
The Department of Justice has proposed amending the Legal Practitioners Ordinance to require courts to obtain a certificate from the city’s chief executive before allowing foreign lawyers to represent clients in criminal or civil cases related to national security. The proposal follows a legal interpretation by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee in Beijing in December, which found that the Hong Kong government - rather than its courts - has the power to decide such matters. The question arose because Jimmy Lai, publisher of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, is seeking to have a British barrister represent him at his trial on national security charges.
Japan
The Shizuoka District Court awarded ¥16.5 million (US$123,000) in damages to a hearing-impaired woman who was sterilized in 1970 under a eugenics protection law that was in force from 1948 to 1996. Presiding Judge Yoshinori Masuda said the sterilization infringed on the woman’s freedom to decide whether to bear a child, violating the Constitutional right to pursue happiness.
The Justice Ministry said it plans to rename a sexual offense to make clearer the illegality of non-consensual intercourse. The Cabinet is expected to approve the change and other Penal Code reforms in mid-March so they can be put before the current session of Parliament. The proposed changes will address factors affecting victims’ expression of consent, including alcohol, drugs, and abuse of economic or social power. The ministry also wants to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16. The revisions to Japan’s laws on sex crimes comes after several high-profile rape acquittals in 2019 caused public outcry.
The Tokyo High Court dismissed a lawsuit claiming the country’s ban on its citizens holding foreign nationality violates the Constitution. The eight plaintiffs, who were born in Japan but now live in Europe, said they will appeal to the Supreme Court. They said they need foreign citizenship to facilitate their work and lives abroad, but want to maintain their Japanese citizenship. A district court first rejected their claim in 2021, saying that dual citizenship could cause conflict “in the rights and obligations between countries, as well as between the individual and the state.”
Koreas
The Seoul High Court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the same spousal coverage under the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) as heterosexual couples, and that failure to provide it amounts to discrimination based on sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage is not legal in South Korea. Since 2007, 11 bills that would prevent discrimination against LGBT people have been filed and blocked at the National Assembly of South Korea.
Taiwan
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court ruled that state compensation of NT$4.63 million (US$152,283) should be paid for the accidental death of a mainland Chinese tourist, who was electrocuted by a malfunctioning street light. The man’s family sued the Kaohsiung government for wrongful death. The court said that citizens of the People’s Republic of China are treated as Republic of China (ROC) nationals under the State Compensation Act (國家賠償法) and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
The Taiwan People’s Party called for legislation to regulate delivery platforms whose workers are often disadvantaged when facing their employers. Delivery platforms have existed in Taiwan for over seven years, but no laws or regulations have been put in place to regulate the industry.