November 26-December 2
China
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released a judicial interpretation about handling foreign-related civil cases (关于适用〈中华人民共和国涉外民事关系法律适用法〉若干问题的解释（二）). The interpretation addresses the obligations of parties and courts regarding supplying, verifying and applying relevant foreign laws. The interpretation takes effect on January 1, 2024. Here is one expert’s analysis of the interpretation.
The SPC published four typical cases about assessing punitive damages in food safety civil disputes. According to the cases, punitive damages are allowed only when the plaintiff falls into the category of a“consumer,” excluding businesses and individuals who do not consume the food in daily life. At the same time, the court published a draft judicial interpretation on food safety and drug safety to solicit the public’s opinions. The comment period will close on December 13, 2023.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate released a report about telecommunications fraud cases during January-October 2023 (检察机关打击治理电信网络诈骗及其关联犯罪工作情况). According to the report, more than 34,000 persons were indicted during this period, up 52% over the same period of 2022. Most of the defendants were young, with a low education level and low income.
Hong Kong
A court heard final arguments in the trial of some of Hong Kong’s best known pro-democracy activists on charges of violating the 2020 National Security Law. The 16 defendants were among 47 activists arrested and charged in 2021 for having organized or participated in an unofficial 2020 primary election to pick candidates for the city’s Legislative Council. The government views the election as a plot to subvert state power. Of the 47, 31 have pleaded guilty, including legal scholar Benny Tai, former student leader Joshua Wang and former opposition leaders Wu Chi-cai and Alvin Yeung. The activists may face up to life in prison.
Members of Hong Kong’s League of Social Democrats were indicted on 26 charges involving unauthorized fundraising and banner displays. The league is one of the last pro-democracy parties surviving after the implementation of the 2020 National Security Law. League Chair Chan Po-ying is charged with three counts of fundraising and displaying posters without permission, and Vice Chair Dickson is charged with two counts of unauthorized fundraising.
Hong Kong’s national security police charged a 26-year-old man under the sedition law for wearing a T-shirt with the messages: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time,” and “Hong Kong Independence is the only way out.” The man was arrested near the boarding gate at Hong Kong’s international airport.
The High Court rejected a petition for judicial review of the constitutionality of Hong Kong’s new nomination system for District Council seats. Under rules put in place this year to ensure that only “patriots” are nominated, candidates must receive at least three nominations from each of three government-appointed committees in the relevant district. The committees — the Area Committee, District Fight Crime Committee, and District Fire Safety Committee — rejected all democratic party candidates. However, Judge Russell Coleman said that the nomination requirement was not “manifestly without reasonable foundation.”
Japan
The Nagoya High Court ordered the national government to pay compensation for damages caused by its decision to cut welfare benefits. The court also nullified the benefit reductions. The government lowered welfare benefits by up to 10 percent between 2013 and 2015 to reflect falling commodity prices at the time. The plaintiffs, benefits recipients, said they were forced to live below the minimum standard of living. Twenty-nine similar lawsuits have been filed across the country by groups of plaintiffs.
The head of a Japanese nonprofit organization was convicted of violating the domestic organ transplant law by arranging for two Japanese residents in need of organ transplants to undergo surgery in Belarus. The Tokyo District Court sentenced Hiromichi Kikuchi, director of the Association for Patients of Intractable Diseases, to eight months in prison and fined his organization one million yen (about $6,800). Kikuchi had received 51.5 million yen (about $351,000) in fees from the two patients. Japan has a severe shortage of organs for transplant, but unlicensed brokering of transplants is illegal.
Police in Aichi Prefecture are being investigated for professional negligence in connection with the death of a 43-year-old man from kidney failure after a week in detention. The detainee suffered from diabetes and schizophrenia, and police had put him in solitary confinement due to his violent behavior. Police reportedly did not give him access to medication for his illnesses.
The vice president of Nihon University sued the chair of the university’s board of trustees for pressuring him to resign. The board had recommended that university President Takeo Sakai and Vice President Yasuhiro Sawada, who is in charge of the school’s competitive sports, resign after marijuana was found in the dormitory of the school’s American football team. In his lawsuit, Sawada said he was the victim of “power harassment.”
Koreas
About 200 South Korean farmers who raise dogs for human consumption rallied near the presidential office in the capital Seoul, demanding the government scrap a plan to ban the centuries-old practice. The ruling party of President Yoon Suk Yeol has introduced a bill to ban the breeding and sale of dogs for consumption and offer financial compensation for those forced to close their business within a three-year grace period. A Gallup Korea poll last year found that nearly two-thirds of respondents disapproved of consuming dog meat. Only 8% reported having eaten dog in the past year, down from 27% in 2015.
South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed pro-labor revisions of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act and three broadcasting laws (the Broadcasting Act, the Educational Broadcasting System Act, and the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Association Act) that had been passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has vetoed a total of six bills led by the opposition. The labor law revisions would have guaranteed the bargaining rights of subcontracted workers and limited employer actions to suppress their strikes. The broadcasting laws sought to reduce government intervention at local broadcasters.
The Seoul High Court has ordered Japan to compensate a group of women who were forced to work in military brothels during World War II. The 16 women, who were kept as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, had their case dismissed in 2021 by the Seoul Central District Court on the grounds of sovereign immunity. But the High Court said that international law does not recognize state immunity for an illegal act. The decision awards each of the 16 victims 200 million won (approximately $154,000).
Sweden’s main adoption agency said it is halting adoptions from South Korea following claims of falsified papers on the origins of children. South Korea sent around 200,000 children to the West for adoptions over the past six decades. Sweden was a major destination. Hundreds of adoptees in various countries are now demanding South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigate their adoptions, which they say were based on documents that falsified or obscured their origins.
A local government organization in charge of waste disposal has come under fire for saying that it cannot hire women to serve as waste disposal monitors. In response to a public outcry, the Yesan-gun Resident Support Council blamed a misunderstanding and said it had actually meant that a man and woman working together at 4 a.m. at the same place could lead to “unnecessary complications.” South Korean law bans discriminating against job applicants based on gender, punishable by a small fine.
Taiwan
The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office indicted ten people, including several active-duty military personnel as well as former military officers, on charges of spying for China. Prosecutors said the suspects who were tasked with collecting official documents and military secrets.
The Executive Yuan approved draft amendments to the Fire Services Act (消防法) to improve fire safety in the workplace. The draft was proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and goes to the Legislative Yuan for approval.