August 27-September 2
China
The National Peoples Congress Standing Committee approved a new Foreign State Immunity Law that recognizes exceptions to foreign state immunity in Chinese courts. Foreign state actors will no longer be immune from lawsuits stemming from commercial activities and torts committed within Chinese territory. China previously adhered to a position of absolute state immunity, meaning it did not exercise jurisdiction over other states or accept the jurisdiction of foreign states’ courts and tribunals. Chinese legislators proposed the change in approach in 2020 after plaintiffs filed tort claims in the US against the Chinese government for alleged negligence in containing the Covid-19 virus. They realized that Chinese plaintiffs could not file reciprocal lawsuits in Chinese courts.
During its meeting from August 28 to September 1, the NPC Standing Committee also approved revisions to the Administrative Reconsideration Law, amended the Civil Procedure Law, and renewed a pilot program that makes it easier for eligible lawyers licensed in Hong Kong or Macao to practice mainland civil and commercial law in nine cities in Guangdong province.
The NPC Standing Committee terminated its review of draft amendments to the Administrative Procedure Law, ending a revision effort initiated in December 2022. One proposed revision would have given county-level courts the authority to hear certain types of lawsuits against government agencies at the same level. Such cases currently are heard by higher level courts. Critics said this could have made it more difficult for plaintiffs to win.
The NPC Standing Committee released drafts of five bills for public comment, including draft revisions to the Public Security Administrative Punishments Law (治安管理处罚法修订草案). This law, originally approved in 2005, allows police to impose and administer punishments extra-judicially for relatively minor violations of public security. Proposed changes include expanding its application to cover new types of violations and incorporating the “plea for leniency” (认罪认罚) system into administrative punishment. The draft also requires the presence of parents or a “suitable adult” when questioning a juvenile suspected of violations, and introduces a system for sealing juveniles’ records of violations. These revisions match reforms already introduced into the Criminal Procedure Law.
The State Council issued a report on the government’s anti-domestic violence work over the seven years since the implementation of China’s Anti-Domestic Violence Law. It reported improvement in society’s awareness of domestic violence and said that legal aid and other forms of support for victims have increased, while the number of criminal cases involving domestic violence has declined. A 2021 survey by the All-China Women’s Federation found that 8.6% of married women had experienced physical or emotional violence from their partner, a decline of 5.2 percentage points from 2010. The report acknowledged that not all cases of domestic violence against children are being reported, as required by law. It said courts have issued more than 15,000 protective orders since 2016, an extremely low number for China’s population.
Hong Kong
A group that promotes the Cantonese language shut down after authorities said a fictional essay posted on its website, which described a decline in Hong Kong’s freedoms, violated the National Security Law. Andrew Chen, founder and chair of the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis, posted on Facebook that he closed the association, which he founded 10 years ago as a college student, after national security police visited his family home without a search warrant and demanded he remove the essay immediately. Chan currently lives abroad. The group’s Facebook page has 57,000 followers.
Hong Kong police detained two more men in connection with a now-defunct fund that supported persons arrested in connection with the 2019 protests. The two men were suspected of conspiring to collude with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to receive overseas donations and provide financial support to overseas activists. Earlier this month, police arrested 10 other persons whom they accused of endangering national security through involvement with the fund.
Japan
A team of investigators reported that the late founder of Japan's biggest boy band talent agency, Johnny Kitagawa, used his agency to sexually abuse boys for decades and that other senior officials at the firm were aware of the allegations and failed to take any action. The team, which was appointed by the talent agency Johnny & Associates in late May, interviewed 41 people. It urged the current president, Kitagawa’s niece, to resign and said the firm should establish internal compliance and audit systems.
A Japanese government subcommittee proposed legal revisions that would allow for joint parental custody of children after divorce. Current practice gives only one parent custody, leaving many non-custodial parents unable to see their children. The draft proposal recommends that parents decide together whether to have sole or joint custody of their children, with courts intervening only in cases of dispute. The proposal also suggests introducing a mandatory child support payment scheme and mechanisms for seizing assets if needed.
An international survey on women's working environments found that about 44% of women in Japan do not take time off even when in serious menstrual pain. The consulting firm Deloitte Tohmatsu Group surveyed 5,000 people in 10 countries between October 2022 and January 2023. In Japan, 500 women working for Japanese companies responded, from teenagers to persons in their 60s. Menstrual leave is a legal right in Japan but many companies give only unpaid time off.
Koreas
The e-commerce giants Naver and Coupang and two online vendors have been sued by six right-wing groups for selling T-shirts featuring the smiling face of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The plaintiffs claim that selling the shirts violates the 1948 National Security Law, which forbids any positive commentary or dissemination of North Korean propaganda.
South Korean labor unions are asking employers to raise the age of mandatory retirement. By law companies may require retirement at age 60 or later; most companies have fixed it at 60. However, retirees are not eligible to draw on the National Pension Service until they reach 63-65, depending on their year of birth. The poverty rate among South Korea’s elderly is 43%.
North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, which meets infrequently, will convene Sept. 26 to discuss laws on irrigation, public servants, persons with disabilities, and law enforcement in the financial sector. The assembly’s Standing Committee met on Aug. 30 and discussed a law for “revitalizing domestic tourism and expanding international tourism simultaneously,” according to state media.
Taiwan
Taiwan's Judicial Yuan said it has developed a generative AI system that can draft judgments for criminal cases involving driving under the influence and assisting fraud. After judges have determined the facts of the case, the applicable law, and the outcome, they may ask the AI system to generate a draft judgment for their review. The system will be trialed in selected courts starting in September. The Judicial Yuan said it will incorporate the Guidelines for the Executive Yuan and its Agencies on the Use of Generative AI released by the Executive Yuan in July.
The most significant amendment to Taiwan’s IP Case Adjudication Act since its inception in 2008 took effect on Aug. 30. Highlights include: requiring a lawyer’s representation in civil IP cases; the establishment of a specialized division at the highest court to handle appeals of IP cases; the exclusive jurisdiction of the IP & Commercial Court over both civil and criminal disputes over trade secrets; efforts to enhance the transparency and efficiency of civil proceedings; improved rules on discovery and heightened burden of proof on the defendant’s side; smoother connection between patent infringement lawsuits and parallel invalidation action; and more engagement of experts in IP lawsuits.