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.”
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.
Angela Zhang discusses her new book Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism: How the Rise of China Challenges Global Regulation. Professor Zhang examines the unique ways in which China regulates and is regulated by foreign countries, revealing a “Chinese exceptionalism” that is reshaping global antitrust regulation.
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 Faculty Director and NYU Law Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law José Alvarez recently published an article in NYU Law’s Journal of International Law and Politics (JILP) entitled “Biden’s International Law Restoration,” in Volume 53, Number 2 – Winter 2021. JILP is a student-run publication devoted to commentary on contemporary issues in international and comparative law. JILP features articles on international legal topics by leading scholars and practitioners and notes, case comments, and book annotations written by journal members.
Read Biden’s International Law Restoration, 53 N.Y.U. J. Int’l L. & Pol. 523 (2021).
Join the NYU Law Colloquium on Law and Security on Thursday, April 15, 2021, from 3:20 to 5:20 PM for a presentation by Elizabeth Economy of the Council on Foreign Relations entitled, “China’s Global Ambitions and U.S. Policy.” If you are interested in attending, please email Theresa Allison at allisont@mercury.law.nyu.edu for Zoom link.
Recorded on April 5, 2021 (Chinese Language Only)
In this program hosted by无讼学院（Wusong Network Technology), USALI Senior Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor Ira Belkin, Research Scholar Amy Gao, and Professor Guo Zhiyuan from China University of Political Science and Law introduce a five-part bilingual course on the U.S. Evidence Rules produced by USALI and currently being offered for free in China by Wusong. Professor Belkin explains why we made the course and its key takeaways. Professor Guo discusses the relevance of the US evidence rules for China. The three-way conversation was livestreamed in China on April 5.
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.
Deborah Elms talks about prospects for achieving Biden’s trade goals in Asia and the challenges faced by US trade diplomacy in the region. Learn more about the speaker, further reading, and the event.
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.
This panel explores the diverse ethical challenges that may arise when teaching and researching about China from outside China. Concerns about ethical field research and censorship pressures are not new but have been heightened by China’s authoritarian turn and recent events in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Not since the Vietnam War has China scholarship been so politicized.
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.
This panel, as part of Kyoto Congress 2020 and organized by Japan’s Ministry of Justice presents a range of views and the discussion considers some fundamental issues concerning Japan's criminal justice system that underlie currently debates in Japan, such as balancing the (1) civil law inquisitorial tradition with a focus on "finding the truth" and the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into society with (2) increasing demands for greater emphasis on, and practical implementation of, rights of criminal defendants provided in the constitution. Notably, USALI Affiliated Scholar Bruce Aronson participated as a panelist in this event.
Watch here: http://www.un-congress.org/Session/View/ef0678bc-7b8e-437b-af96-10dffcafc810
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.
