A Chinese court for the first time sentences a domestic abuser to prison for violating a constraining order; Hong Kong's legislature unanimously approves a national security law that imposes severe penalties for treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets, sabotage, and external interference; a Japanese district court rejects the claims of some mercury pollution victims; South Korea suspends the licenses of two doctors as it tries to end a month-long strike by interns and residents; Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare offers proposals for reforming the foster care and adoption system following the death of a 1-year-old from alleged abuse.
This Week in Asian Law
China's legislature concludes its annual plenary session with no surprises and no press conference by Premier Li Qiang; Hong Kong legislators support giving new powers to the chief executive under the draft Safeguarding National Security bill; a Japanese high court rules that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the constitution; South Korean prosecutors indict 11 former senior officials in the last administration of manipulating government housing and employment data for political purposes; Taiwan’s Supreme Court reverses itself and acquits an indigenous person of killing a protected species in a high-profile case.
This Week in Asian Law
China's legislature opens its annual plenary session but its premier will not meet the media; Hong Kong’s legislature begins discussing a draft security law; six Japanese couples seek to have the requirement that married couples share the same family name be declared unconstitutional; South Korea’s Constitutional Court upholds the constitutionality of the 52-hour work week; laws designed to make it easier for victims of sexual harassment to file reports and receive support take effect in Taiwan.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s legislature revises the State Secrets Protection Law and adds a vague new category of secrets; the Hong Kong Journalists Association urges the government to clarify the definitions of new domestic security crimes that it proposes to create; Japan’s prime minister vows to curb unethical political fundraising; South Korea’s Constitutional Court upholds a tenant-friendly law and rejects restrictions on fetal gender tests; Taiwan moves a step closer to making it easier for some foreign professionals to gain Taiwan citizenship.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s central government warns localities against imposing excessive fines and fees to compensate for falling tax revenues and shrinking income from sales of land use rights; eight defendants in Hong Kong plead guilty to plotting to plant bombs during the city’s 2019 protests; Japan’s immigration authorities seek to revoke the status of foreign permanent residents who repeatedly don’t pay taxes or break the law; South Korea threatens legal action against striking doctors; China’s coast guard boards a Taiwanese tour boat near Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands in the latest tension-raising incident in the Taiwan Strait.
This Week in Asian Law
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.
This Week in Asian Law
China releases cases to illustrate the liability rules for dog owners and caregivers; Hong Kong’s justice secretary says journalists who interview activists may be charged with abetting them; a Japanese court approves a transgender man’s official change of gender without undergoing surgery; a South Korean court acquits Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong of financial crimes; Taiwan travel agents threaten protests after the government says it will reinstate a ban on tours to China.
USALI Research Scholar Chi Yin analyses the first convictions under China’s overseas anti-corruption laws
U.S.-Asia Law Institute Research Scholar Chi Yin published a new article, A New Era for China’s Overseas Anti-Corruption Campaign, in The Diplomat.
This Week in Asian Law
China executes three persons in two separate high-profile murder cases; Hong Kong publishes a public consultation document setting out plans to create new national security crimes; foreign-born residents of Japan seek a court ruling that police racial profiling violates Japanese law; a South Korean court orders the state to compensate victims of human rights abuses at a former detention center during the era of military rule; Taiwan’s newly elected Legislative Yuan convenes and chooses a Kuomintang legislator as the new speaker, beginning a new era of divided government.
This Week in Asian Law
A UN working group examines China’s human rights record during its fourth Universal Periodic Review; Hong Kong’s chief justice says threats of sanctions against Hong Kong judges are “repugnant to the rule of law”; a Japanese court sentences a man to death for carrying out a 2019 arson attack that killed 36 people in an animation studio; a South Korean court rules that a ban on rallies near the presidential office is unlawful; the Taiwanese government considers legalizing assisted reproduction for same-sex couples and single women.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate intervenes to protect a whistleblower; a prosecution witness in the Hong Kong trial of former publisher Jimmy Lai testifies that Lai instructed him to encourage people to join the 2019 protests; Japan’s Supreme Court agrees to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit over the eligibility of same-sex partners for public benefits; North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calls for a constitutional amendment to declare that South Korea is his country’s "primary foe."; a Taiwanese woman challenges height requirements for firefighters and police officers..
Celebrating 25 Years of Japanese Public Interest Lawyers at NYU
The U.S.-Asia Law Institute and Japanese Federation of Bar Associations celebrate 25 years of bringing Japanese public interest lawyers to NYU as visiting scholars. The program has “deepened our international sophistication beyond transactional law to include comparative perspectives on public interest lawyering,” says NYU Law Professor Emeritus Frank Upham.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s Supreme People’s Court recommends overhauling the system of collateral consequences for persons convicted of crimes; the 2024 agenda for Hong Kong’s Legislative Council includes a Safeguarding National Security Bill to supplement the existing National Security Law; Japanese prosecutors make their first arrests in an investigation into alleged financial reporting crimes by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction; South Korea’s Supreme Court orders Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. to compensate the victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial era; Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te wins the presidential election with 40% of the vote in a three-way contest, but the opposition takes over the legislature.
This Week in Asian Law
China sanctions a US research company and two analysts for reporting about human rights abuses in Xinjiang; Hong Kong prosecutors open the trial of former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai by accusing him of using the newspaper to “promote hatred” of Chinese and Hong Kong authorities; the Tokyo High Court relieves the government of legal liability to evacuees from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown; the head of South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party is recovering after being stabbed in the neck at a political event; Taiwan considers joining the International Criminal Court.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s Supreme People’s Court releases more information about future disclosure of court judgments but questions remain; Hong Kong’s High Court opens the long-delayed trial of former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai on national security and sedition charges; a Japanese court overrides the governor of Okinawa to approve a modified plan to relocate a US military facility on the island; South Korea’s Supreme Court dismisses a lawsuit in a case that launched the country’s #MeToo movement in 2018; Taiwan passes a law to protect its military facilities from espionage.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s Supreme People’s Court instructs lower courts to upload judgments to an internal database, raising concerns that even fewer judgments will be posted to the publicly accessible platform China Judgments Online; the Hong Kong government lifts a two-year limit on freezing the assets of persons accused under the National Security Law; in an landmark sexual assault case, a Japanese court convicts three former soldiers of assaulting a female colleague but gives them suspended prison sentences; South Korea's Supreme Court rules that intentionally and repeatedly making noise in order to harass one’s neighbors is punishable under the anti-stalking law; Taiwanese authorities detain 40 persons on charges of interfering with voting rights, including nine suspected of helping a foreign power to meddle in next month’s presidential and legislative elections.
This Week in Asian Law
A Beijing court rules that AI-generated images can enjoy copyright protection; arguments conclude in the 10-month-long trial of 16 Hong Kong activists accused of conspiring to subvert state power by holding an unofficial primary election; Japan moves toward introducing electronic arrest warrants, interrogation records, and other records of criminal proceedings; a South Korean court orders Apple Inc. to compensate seven iPhone users for slowing down their devices after software updates; Taiwan allows foreign nationals who are inappropriately detained to seek state compensation.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s Supreme People’s Court releases guidance about application of foreign law when adjudicating foreign-related civil cases; a Hong Kong court hears final arguments in the trial of 16 pro-democracy activists charged with violating the 2020 National Security Law by holding an unofficial primary election; a court jails the head of Japanese non-profit organization for brokering organ transplants overseas for Japanese in need of transplants; South Korea’s conservative president vetoes more legislation approved by the opposition-controlled National Assembly; Taiwan accuses ten persons of spying for China, including several active-duty military personnel.
U.S.-Asia Law Institute Director Jose Alvarez Honored by ASIL
This Week in Asian Law
China releases 12 typical cases on the construction of a barrier-free environment; the University of Hong Kong cancels a talk by Jimmy Lai’s British lawyer; Human Rights Watch issues a report criticizing the treatment of women imprisoned in Japan; South Korea’s sentencing commission considers increasing the punishment for stalking crimes; Taipei prosecutors decline to prosecute Elon Musk for smoking marijuana in a 2018 online video.