April 30-May 6
China
China has stepped up its use of exit bans to keep both Chinese citizens and foreigners from leaving the country, according to the rights group Safeguard Defenders. The group says that since 2018, five new or amended laws provide for the use of exit bans, for a total of 15 such laws. A Reuters analysis of records in the Supreme People’s Court database found an eight-fold increase in cases mentioning bans between 2016 and 2022.
The State Council released an annual work report about China cracking down on intellectual property rights infringement in 2022. Officials told a news conference that about 27,000 people were formally accused of IP violations and courts adjudicated more than 2.19 million IP cases in 2022.
The Supreme People’s Court published Provisions on the Causes of Action of Judicial Compensation Cases (关于司法赔偿案件案由的规定), replacing the 2012 Provisions on the Causes of Action of State Compensation Cases (关于国家赔偿案件案由的规定).
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate released seven so-called typical cases involving prosecutorial supervision related to administrative disputes. All of the cases were filed by private individuals at local prosecutors’ offices seeking prosecutorial supervision after their administrative disputes with local government agencies had been adjudicated in administrative litigation.
Hong Kong
The Court of Final Appeal heard arguments in Hong Kong journalist Bao Choy’s appeal against her conviction for making false statements to obtain vehicle registration records for a documentary. The documentary was about the 2019 attack on commuters at the Yuen Long MTR station by dozens of white-shirted men who allegedly had triad affiliations. Choy used a public database to review records of vehicles suspected of transporting assailants and weapons to the site of the attack.
Japan
The government has submitted a bill to the Diet that would make it illegal nationwide to take sexually exploitative photos or videos without consent, including upskirting. At present, taking photos without the subject’s consent has been addressed only by prefectural-level ordinances. The bill is part of a broader overhaul of Japan's laws on sex crimes. It will also expand the definition of rape and explicitly prohibit the taking, distribution and or possessing of photographs of someone's genitals without their consent.
Koreas
The Ministry of Justice said more than 12,000 illegal immigrants were expelled or left under a voluntary departure program over the past two months. After a pause due to COVID-19, in October the government resumed a crackdown on foreigners staying or working illegally.
The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors Office indicted the chairman of the state Korea Communications Commission on charges of involvement in the alleged manipulation of the evaluation of a cable channel that was seeking to renew its license in 2020. Han Sang-hyuk has denied the charges, which include obstruction of justice and forgery of official documents.
North Korea is sending couples who live together outside of marriage to labor camps, saying they are poisoning the country’s socialist society. Neighborhood leaders have been visiting households in their jurisdictions to determine who is living together without registering a marriage, and reporting them to the Ministry of Safety and Security..
Taiwan
Persons who work with state-funded core technologies now need government permission to travel to or transit China. The travel restriction remains in effect for three years after leaving a job that is covered. The legislature amended 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) last year, and the Executive Yuan defined “core technology personnel” and set standards for authorizing their China-bound travel or transit.
A legislative committee approved an amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act to establish a national data protection agency with the power to fine companies that fail to protect personal data. A separate organic law will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for the new agency in time for it to begin operating in August. Last year, the Constitutional Court ordered the government to amend the data protection law to include an independent oversight mechanism.
The Legislative Yuan amended the Plant Variety and Plant Seed Act to increase the punishment for persons who illegally export certain indigenous varieties of plant and fruit seeds or their derivatives. The move is a response to several instances in recent years in which crop cultivars developed in Taiwan have wound up being grown in China without authorization..