April 9-15
China
A court in Shandong Province sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers, Xu Zhiyong (许志永) and Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜), to 14 years and 12 years in prison, respectively, after convicting them of subversion in a secret trial. Xu and Ding were detained after organizing a gathering of about 20 lawyers and activists in late 2019 to promote their “New Citizen Movement,” which encouraged ordinary Chinese to exercise their constitutional rights.
The former head of the Supreme People’s Court’s Office of Judgment Enforcement was sentenced to 12 years in prison for bribe-taking. Meng Xiang (孟祥) is the third senior SPC judge prosecuted for corruption since Xi Jinping became Communist Party general secretary in 2012. The other two are former SPC Vice Presidents Shen Deyong (沈德咏) and Xi Xiaoming (奚晓明). Meng confessed to accepting RMB 22.7 million ($3.3 million) in bribes.
The Cyberspace Administration of China released draft Administrative Measures for Generative Artificial Intelligence (生成式人工智能服务管理办法) for public comment. The proposed rules include a requirement for AI-produced content to embody the 12 socialist core values. Generative AI products would be examined for political reliability and accuracy before being released to the market. Comments should be submitted to wajscy@cac.gov.cn before May 10, 2023.
The Chaoyang District Court in Beijing released guidance for victims of domestic violence seeking protection orders against their abusers. It also issued a set of “typical cases” in which such applications were granted. The 2016 Anti-Domestic Violence Law first authorized Chinese courts to issue protective orders outside of litigation, but they have been under-used. The Chaoyang court, the basic court in a district of nearly 3.5 million people, said it handled 44 applications for such orders in 2022 and granted 37.
Hong Kong
Jimmy Lai, the former publisher of the Apple Daily newspaper, is challenging the Hong Kong government’s ongoing efforts to block him from being represented by a UK barrister during his trial on national security charges, now scheduled to begin in September. In December, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee declared that the Hong Kong government may exclude foreign counsel from national security cases. However, the ruling came after Hong Kong’s highest court had already decided that a British lawyer could defend Lai. Hong Kong courts historically have had discretion to admit lawyers from other common law jurisdictions who are not members of the local bar, particularly if they have special expertise. The Department of Justice told Hong Kong legislators in March that the NPC decision did not apply retroactively to Lai’s case, but that the government could withhold a visa from Lai’s lawyer. It is this approach that Lai is challenging.
Four Hong Kong men were jailed for 26 to 28 months for engaging in violence during the July 1, 2019 flag-raising ceremony marking the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule. A younger co-defendant was sentenced to a training center. The five were among about 200 protesters who disrupted the ceremony by hurling eggs, water bottles, and other objects at police. Some shined laser pointers at officers or hit them with umbrellas.
In the national security trial of 16 former democratic leaders, the prosecutor alleged that former lawmaker Dennis Kwok was a co-conspirator. Kwok, a lawyer, left Hong Kong two years ago and is now living in the US. The trial of the 16 democrats began February 6. They are accused of plotting to bring down the government by holding an unofficial primary election. Hong Kong Watch is tracking developments in the trial.
Japan
The House of Representatives passed a bill to enable the use of GPS monitoring devices to prevent indicted people from fleeing the country when released on bail. Under the bill, which is expected to be approved by the House of Councilors, courts can order defendants who are deemed to be flight risks to wear GPS devices. The government drafted the bill after former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn fled Japan in 2019 when he was awaiting trial on financial charges. The revised law also criminalizes failure to appear in court and leaving a designated residence without permission.
Cambodian authorities deported 19 Japanese suspects to their home country where they face charges of involvement in phone scams. Some of the suspects allegedly posed as employees of Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo and sent text messages to elderly people in Japan. Victims who called the number in the messages were falsely told that they owed fees for an online service and pressured to pay.
Koreas
Cho Hyun-chun, a former military commander, was indicted on charges of power abuse and political meddling. Cho was arrested in March when he returned from the United States, where he fled in 2017. Prosecutors allege that he directed a plan to declare martial law and use force to suppress protesters opposed to then-President Park Geun-hye. The martial law plan he commissioned included mobilizing 200 tanks, 550 armored vehicles, and more than 6,000 armed forces.
The Supreme Court ordered the Supreme Prosecutors Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office to reveal details of their off-book expenses from 2017 to 2019. President Yoon Suk Yeol was chief of the Seoul Prosecutors Office from 2017 to 2019 and was prosecutor general from 2019 to 2021. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that the two offices must disclose information about their special activity expenses from January 1, 2017, to September 30, 2019.
The Supreme Court ruled that Google must disclose details of any personal information of South Korean nationals that it shared with third parties. Plaintiffs in the long-running litigation allege that Google shared the personal information of South Korean users with the US government's intelligence program known as PRISM. Under South Korean law, online service providers must comply with individual users' requests and provide records of whether and how their personal data has been shared with a third party. An appeals court previously ruled that Google had the right to reject the demand in accordance with US laws. The case has now gone back to a lower court for retrial.
Taiwan
The Ministry of Justice proposed amending Article 1085 of the Civil Code to ban corporal punishment of children. Taiwan has already implemented the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) and the Implementation Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (兒童權利公約施行法), which prohibit corporal punishment. However, the Civil Code still allows parents to punish children “within the limit of necessity.”
Lawmakers across party lines urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to amend the Public Assistance Act (社會救助法) to reflect social changes since the last amendment in 2010. Critics say that many provisions related to public assistance eligibility are outdated and hinder access to aid, such as linking applications to the place of household registration and estimated aggregate household income.