Chinese universities conduct a nationwide audit of retracted academic papers; Hong Kong courts sentence more defendants in cases stemming from the 2019 protests; LGBTQ activists in Japan advocate for equal marriage rights on Valentine’s Day; South Korea convicts three former police officers for destroying evidence linked to a fatal crowd crush in Seoul on Halloween 2022; Taiwan solicits public input for the next phase of its Open Government National Action Plan.
USALI Faculty Director José E. Alvarez has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the oldest and most prestigious learned societies in the United States. He is among 252 new members announced on April 22, and one of only five law professors who were chosen.
This 10-session seminar will introduce the legal system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – in practice as well as theory – with an emphasis on institutions, norms, procedures, personnel and ideology relating to constitutional law, criminal justice and human rights. We will view the contemporary legal process against the background of China’s legal traditions and pre-Communist efforts to develop a modern legal system. We will also consider the relevant experiences of Chinese societies in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Pioneering scholar of Chinese law, Professor Jerome Alan Cohen has taught and mentored countless others in a field he helped establish in this country. A courageous voice for those whose voices have been silenced, Professor Cohen defends human rights around the globe. Bold trailblazer and advocate, for using his many talents to create a more just world, Yale is proud to present Professor Jerome Alan Cohen with his third Yale degree, Doctor of Laws.
From USALI Faculty Director Emeritus Jerome A. Cohen: “Here’s a draft of a new article that in a way is my Apologia Pro Vita Sua. There have been some debates about whether those of us who tried to help China build its legal system in the decade beginning in 1979 committed a mistake. I offer my thoughts in the article from a frank, close-up, first-hand perspective. I hope they will be useful for people thinking about our China policy and for anyone interested in recent Chinese history.”
This week’s highlights include: laws mandating child safety seats, blocking software on computers used by children, and other protective measures take effect in China; Hong Kong police seal off Victoria Park to block an annual vigil for those killed in China on June 3-4, 1989; Japan’s Diet moves to do away with imprisonment with hard labor; South Korea appoints a new prosecutor-general; Taiwan formally decriminalizes adultery.
This week’s highlights include: China publishes the 2021 report on Rule of Law development; Hong Kong police ban a vigil commemorating the victims of June 4, 1989; the Tokyo High Court allows restrictions on a transgender official’s choice of restroom; the governor of Jeju Province discloses his cryptocurrency holdings; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court upholds a mandatory prison term for sellers of copyrighted DVDs.
This week’s highlights include: China tightens restrictions on private schools and requires them to pursue public welfare, not profit; an ordinance takes effect requiring Hong Kong public officers to take an oath to uphold the Basic Law; the Japanese government drops its plan to revise the immigration law after a Sri Lankan woman died in an immigration detention facility; the South Korean government considers allowing more foreigners to work as domestic workers; Taiwan’s president issues her first pardon to an indigenous Bunun man controversially convicted of weapons and poaching offenses.
This week’s highlights include: China proposes to tighten automobile data security; the Hong Kong government proposes to criminalize doxing; Japan’s amendment to its referendum law advances in the Diet; the South Korean government is criticized for asking Google to take down far more content than other governments; Taiwan’s Control Yuan urges action to curb human rights abuses on fishing vessels flying the Taiwan flag.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China promulgates a law to punish restaurants and diners who waste food; Hong Kong’s executive researches a “fake news“ law; Japan’s Diet advances a bill that may make it easier to amend the Constitution; South Korea’s special corruption investigation agency releases controversial rules allowing it to preempt prosecutors; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court upholds most restrictions on indigenous hunting.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China’s legislature amends the Food Safety Law, Advertising Law, and eight other laws; Hong Kong approves a controversial immigration bill that critics fear will give rise to ‘exit bans’; the head of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee joins an LGBTQ event and calls for an equality law; a South Korean ministry plans to allow children to take either of their parents’ surnames; Taiwan considers how to protect its fishing industry if Japan dumps radioactive waste water into the Pacific Ocean.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China unveils an ambitous legislative plan for 2021; Hong Kong slides down on the world press freedom index; a Japanese court refuses to let a married couple enter different family names in the family register; a Seoul court rejects the request of 20 former “comfort women” for compensation from Japan; Taiwan passes an Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China’s anti-trust agency fines Alibaba $2.75 billion; a Hong Kong judge approves a settlement between HSBC and Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou giving her access to documents she seeks to fight extradition to the US; Japan considers increasing the penalty for online slander after the apparent suicide of a reality show performer; South Korea considers taking Japan to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to stop it from releasing treated radioactive water into the sea; Taiwan’s attorney general files an extraordinary appeal on behalf of a man on death row.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: the SPP pursues accountability for wrongful convictions; Hong Kong’s Court of Appeals says the ban on wearing masks at illegal gatherings is constitutional; Taiwan’s legislature to look into fatal train crash; the organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics threatens legal action over leaked plans for the opening ceremony; South Korea relaxes application of cap on weekly work hours; Vietnam’s National Assembly elects a new prime minister and president.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China declares victory in its three-year campaign against organized crime; seven prominent democrats are convicted of unauthorized assembly in Hong Kong; Taiwan faces calls to give same-sex couples equal adoption rights; Japan tells those recovering from COVID-19 to skip voting in local elections; South Korea’s president confronts the fallout from a real estate scandal.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: A Chinese court holds a brief, closed trial for Canadian Michael Kovrig; the Hong Kong Court of Appeals rules that the doctrine of “joint enterprise“ can be used to prosecute persons who were not physically present at 2019’s protests; the Japanese government halts use of the free messaging app Line by government officials after a serious data breach involving a Chinese firm; a North Korean national is extradited to the US from Malaysia to face money laundering charges; Taiwan’s Supreme Court issues a decision that could makes it easier to reopen alleged wrongful conviction cases; Vietnam’s National Assembly begins its annual plenum to elect a new government leadership.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: A Chinese court holds a brief, closed trial for Canadian Michael Spavor; the Hong Kong government formally introduces a bill requiring district councillors to take loyalty oaths; a Japanese court says the failure to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional; South Korea acquits 335 Jeju Islanders convicted in a 1948 insurrection; Taiwan makes it easier for foreign, Hong Kong, and Macau non-profits to open offices.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China’s NPC approves a decision to change Hong Kong’s election system; five of 47 activists charged under Hong Kong’s National Security Law are released on bail; Japan marks ten years since the Fukushima disaster; South Korea’s Supreme Court rejects an appeal for justice from former inmates of a government-supported facility that used them as slave labor during the era of military dictatorship; migrant domestic workers’ in Taiwan seek legal protections.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China begins its annual plenary meetings of the legislature and a consultative body; Hong Kong charges 47 people under the National Security Law for holding a primary election; Japan advances legislation to criminalize stalking by GPS; a South Korean transgender woman discharged from the army after sex-change surgery is found dead; the chief justice of Taiwan’s Supreme Court makes a public apology over a corruption scandal.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China launches a National Database of Laws and Regulations; Hong Kong’s chief executive says the electoral system needs reform; Japanese officials say China’s new Coast Guard Law is escalating tensions; South Koreans are accusing sports and entertainment celebrities of having been bullies at school; some academics in Taiwan call for stiffer punishment of professors who take unauthorized grants from China.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China and Hong Kong take BBC World News off the air, Hong Kong Bar Association and immigrant protection groups express concern over proposed change to immigration rules, Japan’s new COVID-19 measures face pushback, South Korea considers introducing a system to register births to resident foreigners, Taiwan may enshrine animal rights in its constitution.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China’s judicial interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law; Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; Japan to fine COVID restrictions violators; South Korea impeaches a sitting a judge for the first time; Vietnam concludes its Communist Party Congress by giving General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong an unprecedented third term.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include: China’s congress releases seven draft laws or amendments for public comment; China says it will not recognize BNO passports held by Hong Kong residents as travel documents; Japan’s ruling party drops the idea of criminally prosecuting non-cooperative COVID-19 patients; a North Korean ambassador defects to South Korea; South Korea’s Constitutional Court allows a controversial new corruption investigation body to stand; Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan is accused of lowering ethical standards as judges are implicated in a corruption scandal; Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary maneuvers for a third term.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights include China’s legislature considers a draft Legal Aid Law; civil servants in Hong Kong are required to sign a loyalty pledge; Japan’s Cabinet approves giving the government more powers to fight Covid-19; North Korea seeks to impose a penalty for anyone caught enjoying South Korean entertainment; Taiwan’s Supreme Court remands the criminal case against eight Sunflower movement activists to the High Court for retrial; a record number of delegates to attend Vietnam’s National Party Congress.
USALI’s weekly round-up of legal news from Asia. This week’s highlights are : China’s Communist Party issues a Plan on Building Rule of Law (2020-2025); Hong Kong’s new chief justice talks about impartial adjudication; Japan proposes criminal penalties for COVID-19 patients who refuse hospitalization; a Korean court confirms former President Park Geun-hye’s sentence; Taiwan’s judicial corruption case; and concerns from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights over Vietnam’s imprisonment of three journalists.
