February 25-March 2
China
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) announced that the People’s Court Case Library (人民法院案例库) is open to the public. The new database holds cases that the SPC considers authoritative, including guiding cases and reference cases. Judges are required to check the database for relevant cases before making decisions. The court plans to periodically update the database, including removing outdated cases.
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee revised the State Secrets Protection Law (保守国家秘密法). Among other things, the revision requires government agencies to protect “work secrets,” defined as information that is not a state secret but would “cause certain adverse effects if leaked.” At a press conference, the National Administration of State Secrets Protection underscored the Communist Party’s leadership in state secrets protection and integration of new technology related to state secrets protection. The revisions take effect on May 1, 2024.
The full NPC, with nearly 3,000 delegates, begins its annual plenary session on March 5, 2024. Delegates will listen to and approve work reports delivered by Premier Li Qiang, the Supreme People’s Court president, the head of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and leaders of other bodies that (at least according to the Constitution) come under the NPC’s leadership. The meeting may also fill some senior government vacancies (foreign minister, seats on the State Council) and will approve the government budget.
Shanghai authorities are preparing to prosecute the maker of an underground documentary, “Urumqi Road,” that tells the story of the brief but powerful “white paper protests” that took place in late November 2022 in response to the harsh zero COVID policies. The documentary was uploaded to the internet in December 2023. Radio Free Asia reported that its maker, identified on screen by the pseudonym Plato but actually named Chen Pinlin, was detained soon afterward. It said he was formally arrested on the charge of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" and his case was transferred to the prosecutor’s office on February 18, 2024. The documentary can be seen here.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released five new guiding cases related to protecting minors’ rights and interests on the internet, including use of their photos and various kinds of fraud via video games and recruitment.
The SPP also released ten typical cases related to exercising prosecutorial power in the contexts of appealing and seeking retrials of criminal cases, exercising supervision over civil and administrative cases, and conducting public interest litigation.
The Ministry of Education is seeking public comment on its draft Regulations on the Management of Off-Campus Training, which will govern the after-school tutoring industry. The new rules come nearly three years after the government effectively barred for-profit tutoring in core curriculum subjects for classes 1-9.
An amendment to the criminal law that increases penalties for offering bribes and corruption in private firms took effect on March 1. The amendment adds seven serious offenses related to bribery, including repeatedly offering bribes and offering bribes to more than one person.
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) urged the government to clarify the definitions of the new crimes it proposes to create in a domestic security law, and said the definition of state secrets - adopted from that of mainland China - is overbroad. The HKJA also said that among 105 journalists who responded to a survey, 90 percent believed the proposed law would have a significant negative impact on press freedom. The Hong Kong Bar Association also urged the government to define national security crimes narrowly and clearly. A four-week public consultation period about the law ended on February 28. The Security Bureau said it received more than 13,000 submissions, and that almost 99 percent expressed support for the law. The government has not disclosed the submitted comments, although some organizations have publicized their own submissions. The government has disclosed some information about the planned law but not the actual draft.
A court sentenced four Hong Kong men to prison terms of up to three years and two months for posting online messages advocating killing police and COVID-19 health workers in a 14-member chat group. The men apparently did not develop any plan or take any action. They discussed the possibility of making explosives, printing 3D guns, breaching anti-epidemic policies, and blowing up COVID-19 testing centers. The four pleaded guilty in December 2023 to conspiring to wound with intent and other charges.
The Hong Kong lender Ever Credit filed a winding-up petition in the High Court against Chinese real estate developer Country Garden for its default on a $204 million loan plus interest. The move is meant to force Country Garden to sell its assets for repayment, but mainland courts may not enforce any such judgment.
The Court of Final Appeal is expected to hear the government’s challenges to legal decisions that recognize the housing and inheritance rights of same-sex couples. In 2020 and 2021, lower courts ruled in favor of same-sex couples married overseas who sought access to the city’s public housing and inheritance rights equal to those of heterosexual couples. Last October, the Court of Appeal dismissed the government’s challenge to these cases. Hong Kong does not give legal status to same-sex relationships.
Finance Secretary Paul Chan announced an end to extra taxes and other measures imposed on real estate transactions as home prices fell to a seven-year low. Instead, he said the city may take steps to ease property lending and will collaborate with mainland China to encourage tourism.
Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise appearance at a parliamentary ethics committee hearing and again apologized for the fundraising scandal that has cratered support for his government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Kishida, who is not implicated in the scandal, proposed reforming the Political Funds Control Law and said he would not hold any more fundraising events of the type at the heart of the scandal.
The Tokyo High Court upheld the18-year prison sentence given to a man who caused two deaths in a notorious 2017 road rage incident.
The Child and Family Agency presented a draft bill that would require schools to check whether employees or job applicants have ever committed sex offenses. The bill also would require schools to hold employee training programs, hold interviews with children, and develop systems to better protect children. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is drafting its own proposal.
The Osaka High Court used a new online conference system for the first time to hear remote oral arguments in a civil trial. Web conferencing has previously been used for preliminary hearings and settlement negotiations but a 2022 amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure allows its expanded use. In this case, the judge and members of the public sat in their usual seats in the courtroom while lawyers for the two parties appeared on a large screen. Afterward, the lawyer representing the appellant said while the system is convenient, there are scenarios, such as the examination of witness testimony, that make in-person participation preferable.
Koreas
South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency held an inaugural meeting with counterparts from Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand to share information about drug trafficking and draw up a joint response plan.
The advocacy group Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination accused subway operator Seoul Metro and the state of violating their constitutional right to assembly by banning them from holding protests on subway platforms. The group protested in the subway from November 30 to December 15, 2023, to demand increased government support for disabled persons’ mobility.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA) said it would hold a rally in Seoul to continue protesting the government’s plan to increase medical school admissions. Thousands of medical interns and residents began striking on February 20, disrupting medical care nationwide, and many resigned outright. The government said that anyone who did not return to work as of February 29 would have their medical license suspended. Early reports said large numbers were defying the deadline.
The South Korean Constitutional Court upheld a provision of the Housing Lease Protection Act that guarantees residential tenants can extend their leases by two years and caps rent increases at 5 percent. The provision was enacted in 2020 to address high inflation in rental housing. Landlords argued it infringes on their property rights.
The South Korean Constitutional Court deemed unconstitutional a current law that bans medical professionals from revealing the gender of a fetus before the 32nd week of pregnancy. The ban appears as Art. 20, clause 2 of the Medical Service Act. It aims to prevent gender-based abortions in light of society’s traditional preference for boys. The provision was enacted after the same court overturned an earlier provision that banned all pre-birth gender tests.
Taiwan
The Executive Yuan approved draft amendments to the Electronic Signatures Act (電子簽章法) that would more closely integrate Taiwan’s e-signature requirements with those of other countries. The draft specifies that electronic signatures have the same function and legal status as signatures on paper, a recognition shared by the European Union and the International Organization for Standardization. The draft must be approved by the Legislative Yuan.
The Executive Yuan approved draft amendments to the Nationality Act (國籍法) to ease residency requirements for some foreign professionals applying for naturalization and to allow social welfare agencies to apply for naturalization on behalf of stateless children who are residents. The draft must be approved by the Legislative Yuan.