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.”
China’s National People’s Congress amends the Law on Legislation to allow streamlined lawmaking in emergencies; Jimmy Lai’s son and legal team urge the UN Human Rights Council to condemn his prosecution; a Japanese court orders the government to give refugee status to a woman who fled LGBT persecution in Uganda; South Korea’s president pauses plans to lengthen the work week; a Taiwanese business leader launches the Taiwan Civil Liberties Union to promote judicial reform.
China’s National People’s Congress confirms Xi Jinping’s third five-year term as president during its annual plenary meeting; a planned women’s rights march in Hong Kong is called off and police warn activists not to assemble; Japan’s Supreme Court rules that the country’s personal ID number system is constitutional; South Korea’s government proposes to lengthen the legal workweek to 69 hours from the current 52; Taiwan’s Supreme Administrative Court upholds a fine against China Airlines following a foiled attempt by airline employees to smuggle cigarettes on a plane chartered by President Tsai Ing-wen.
The Chinese Central Committee approves a Party and State Institutional Reform Plan in advance of the annual plenary meeting of the National People’s Congress; Hong Kong ends its COVID mask mandate; the Osaka High Court reopens the criminal conviction of a dead man; South Korea’s Constitutional Court upholds a requirement that men born abroad to Korean parents cannot renounce their Korean citizenship until after performing compulsory military service; Taiwan’s national defense ministry withdraws proposed revisions to the General Mobilization Act following widespread criticism.
China has a new minister of justice; Hong Kong’s Department of Justice proposes to require chief executive approval for a foreign lawyer to represent a client in cases related to national security; a Japanese court awards compensation to a woman forcibly sterilized in 1970; a South Korean court says same-sex couples are entitled to spousal coverage in the National Health Insurance Service; a court in Taiwan says mainland Chinese nationals are treated as Republic of China citizens when seeking state compensation for wrongful death and injury.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights conducts its periodic review of China’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Hong Kong adds national security clauses to land sale and short-term lease documents; Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologizes for an aide’s anti-LGBTQ remarks; South Korea’s defense minister rejects a court ruling holding South Korean marines responsible for massacring unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War; Taiwan enacts a Climate Change Response Act aimed at achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
UN rights experts say one million Tibetan children are undergoing forced assimilation at residential schools; Hong Kong’s top court says transgender persons can change their gender identity on official ID cards without undergoing surgery; a Japanese district court dismisses the claim by children of nuclear bomb survivors for governmental support; a court orders the South Korean government for the first time ever to compensate the Vietnamese victim of a Korean military massacre in 1968; Taiwan’s Supreme Court sustains a Taiwanese businessman’s prison sentence for selling oil to North Korea.
Sichuan Province allows unmarried parents to register births; a Hong Kong court prepares to try the organizers of an unofficial 2020 primary election on charges of conspiracy to commit subversion; Japan proposes raising the age of sexual consent to 16 from 13; South Korea’s Ministry of Justice refuses to redefine “rape” to eliminate the need for the victim to prove violence or intimidation; Hong Kongers who want to become residents of Taiwan complain that the process is unreasonably long and difficult.
Human Rights Watch urges the Chinese government to release zero Covid protesters; Hong Kong’s justice minister promises to revise the law to ban foreign lawyers in national security cases; Japan’s Supreme Court says the disparity in the number of voters in different Lower House constituencies in the 2021 election was constitutional; a prominent South Korean legislator proposes that women as well as men be required to participate in civil defense training; Taiwan announces a new premier as part of a cabinet shuffle.
China considers new restrictions on the business activities of current and former civil servants; Hong Kong’s chief executive discusses plans for more national security legislation; the Tokyo High Court agrees that former executives of Tokyo Electric Power were not criminally negligent in the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown; South Korea considers amending its civil code to recognize individuals’ right of publicity; North Korea’s legislature holds its annual plenary meeting; Taiwan relaxes its transnational gay marriage rules.
China’s National People’s Congress says the Hong Kong government — rather than Hong Kong courts — has the power to decide whether foreign lawyers may participate in national security cases; Hong Kong’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security approves amending a local ordinance to block a British lawyer from representing Jimmy Lai at his national security trial; Japan’s ruling party prioritizes constitutional reforms; South Korea’s National Assembly secretariat shuts down an exhibit of art works satirizing the president and first lady; Taiwan’s Supreme Court overturns the conviction of a man who has been serving a life sentence for murder since 2007.
As 2022 draws to a close, it is clear that Asia remains vital to the security and prosperity of the US. By extension, legal developments in Asia deserve the attention of scholars and the public in the US and around the world. The U.S.-Asia Law Institute at NYU Law School brings you lively conversations, analysis, and research that you won’t find anywhere else.
A Chinese court exonerates a man after 29 years in prison for rape and murder; the Hong Kong government proposes setting up an office to monitor crowdfunding; the Japanese government considers rewarding businesses that enforce human rights standards in their supply chains; South Korea’s Constitutional Court says a ban on rallies near the presidential residence is unconstitutional; Taiwan investigates whether TikTok is illegally engaged in commercial operations.
USALI Research Scholar Chi Yin wrote an op-ed on China’s illegal COVID-19 measures that was published by the South China Morning Post on December 18, 2022: “Law on my side: How Chinese are protesting against illegal local Covid-19 measures.”
A Chinese court rejects litigation finance; Hong Kong further postpones Jimmy Lai’s trial on national security charges; Japan lifts its ban on women remarrying within 100 days of divorce; a Korean court cancels a disciplinary warning against a Christian broadcaster that aired anti-gay programs; Taiwan’s government issues its first report on implementing the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
China relaxes its Covid prevention rules; Hong Kong implements a policy to speed up repatriation of asylum claimants; Japan’s legislature bans “malicious solicitations” of large donations; the South Korean legislature decides how people should calculate their age; Taiwan’s National Human Rights Commission urges businesses to protect migrant worker rights.
USALI affiliated scholar Aaron Halegua was quoted in a recent Axios article about the conditions of Chinese laborers working on Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects.
A Chinese court exonerates a man who served 22 years in prison for a murder he did not commit; the Hong Kong government asks China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee to decide whether foreign lawyers may represent defendants accused of violating the National Security Law; the Tokyo District Court rules that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional; South Korea’s Supreme Court rules that transgender people cannot be denied the right to change their legal sex status solely because they have underage children; Taiwan’s voters reject a constitutional amendment that would have lowered the voting age from 20 to 18.
A Chinese court imposes a lifetime teaching ban on a man convicted of molesting a student; Hong Kong police investigate how a protest song came to be played at the Asia Rugby Sevens final between Hong Kong and South Korea; a panel of Japan’s Justice Ministry suggests the possibility of allowing divorced couples to have joint custody of their children; a Seoul court freezes about US$104 million in assets belonging to Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court is scheduled to hear a challenge to the divorce law.
