This Week in Asian Law
Yuan Gao
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.

NYU, NYU Law, Awards
Alexis Sanborn
Faculty Director José E. Alvarez elected to the ...

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.

Alexis Sanborn
ONLINE | Law, Justice and Human Rights in China ...

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.

USALI News, US-China Relations, Recent Events, NYU Law
Alexis Sanborn
Jerome A. Cohen receives an honorary degree ...

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.

China, US-China Relations
Guest User
“Was Helping China Build Its Post-1978 Legal ...

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.”

“Was Helping China Build Its Post-1978 Legal System a Mistake?”

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China's legislature approves an increase in the official retirement ages for men and women for the first time in 70 years; the Beijing and Hong Kong governments criticize a move by the US House of Representatives that could result in closing Hong Kong's trade offices in the United States; a Japanese court grants Japanese nationality to a child born in Japan to Afghan refugees; South Korea's Supreme Court upholds a life sentence for a man who stabbed strangers at a Seoul subway station; lawyers for former Taiwan presidential candidate Ko Wen-je say he will not appeal his detention without bail in a corruption investigation.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

Chinese police detain well-known artist Gao Zhen because of his irreverent depictions of the late Chairman Mao Zedong; Hong Kong police move to quash memorials at an MTR station on the fifth anniversary of police attacks on protesters there in 2019; Japanese prosecutors indict a former lawmaker for using public funds to pay a fictitious employee; the social media company Telegram apologizes to South Korean authorities for allowing deepfake pornographic material to be shared on its messaging app; a Taiwan court orders former presidential candidate Ko Wen-je to be detained incommunicado on suspicion of corruption.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights urges China to investigate and correct alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang; a Hong Kong court convicts two former Stand News editors and its parent company of sedition for publishing 11 articles critical of the government during the 2019 protests; Japanese prosecutors indict a former lawmaker on charges of misusing political funds; South Korea's Constitutional Court orders the government and legislature to rewrite the country's climate change law to include more concrete measures; anti-corruption investigators in Taiwan raid the home and office of former presidential candidate Ko Wen-je, leader of the Taiwan People's Party, in connection with a mall development project while he was Taipei mayor.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

Chinese prosecutors formally charge a Japanese businessman with espionage in a case that has chilled the Japanese business community; a Hong Kong court sentences a man to eight weeks in prison for covering his ears and remaining seated while the national anthem was played at a sports event; Japan's Liberal Democratic Party schedules its party leadership election for September 27 - an event that will determine who is Japan's next prime minister; a South Korean court refuses to hand down the death penalty to the man convicted of killing two persons and injuring twelve in a random attack at a department store; a Taiwan court convicts eight active-duty military officers of spying for China and sentences them to up to 13 years in prison.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China's Ministry of Civil Affairs proposes to make marriage registration more convenient; Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal upholds the convictions of seven pro-democracy activists for participating in a peaceful march in 2019; Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announces he will step down as head of his party and therefore as prime minister; South Korea's government says it will help medical schools cope with an ordered surge in new admissions; Taiwanese law enforcement agencies conduct a series of raids in response to financial crimes.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

An unmarried Chinese woman loses her five-year legal battle to be allowed to freeze her eggs; a Hong Kong citizen challenges the Environmental Protection Agency’s green light to build a 600-hectare tech hub adjoining Shenzhen; a Japanese court convicts a local police officer of leaking confidential information from more than 100 cases to a journalist; South Korean authorities indict the founder of the tech giant Kakao on charges of stock price manipulation; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court hears oral arguments in a challenge to a set of legislative amendments that significantly expand the power of the Legislative Yuan.

USALI Research Scholar Chi Yin Explains Trump's Criminal Conviction for Chinese Readers

U.S.-Asia Law Institute Research Scholar Chi Yin published an article, “People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump: The Trial and Conviction of a Former U.S. President,” on Wolters Kluwer’s Chinese language website. She and her co-author, Arthur Chiu of Cyan Law Firm, analyze the former president’s conviction in the hush-money case to clarify common misunderstandings in China about the US criminal justice system and its relationship to the political system. Read more.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China proposes creating a national Internet ID system; a Hong Kong court allows three Tiananmen vigil organizers to appeal their convictions for refusing to provide information to the national security police; Japan considers collecting all civil and administrative court decisions in a single electronic database; Korean victims of Japan’s wartime slavery are stymied in their efforts to collect court-awarded compensation from the Japanese government; Taiwan agrees to compensate the families of two Chinese fishermen who were killed while being chased at sea by Taiwan’s coast guard.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China issues detailed rules for implementing the expanded Law on Guarding State Secrets; a lawyer for former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai says he will testify in his own defense at his national security trial, which has been adjourned until November; local police in Japan conduct a massive raid and arrest 90 people on suspicion of running an investment scam; US federal prosecutors indict a North Korean military intelligence operative on charges of conspiring to hack US health care providers and military bases, among others; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court sets out procedures for upcoming hearings on controversial laws that empower the opposition-controlled legislature to question the president and require government officials and citizens to testify at investigative hearings.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China issues ethical guidelines for human genome research; the Wall Street Journal fires one of its Hong Kong-based reporters following her election to lead the Hong Kong Journalists Association; a married transgender woman in Japan challenges the law preventing her from legally changing her gender unless she divorces her wife; South Korea's Supreme Court rules that persons in same-sex relationships can register their partners as dependents in the national health insurance system; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court temporarily suspends controversial legal revisions that empower lawmakers to require government officials and citizens to testify at investigative hearings.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China’s Supreme People’s Court issues typical cases involving the interpretation and application of foreign law; the Hong Kong Court of Appeal allows a former radio presenter and democratic activist to appeal legal questions related to his sedition conviction; the Hiroshima High Court in Japan approves the legal gender change of a transgender woman even though she did not undergo gender confirmation surgery as currently required by law; the Seoul Metropolitan Government holds a forum on human rights abuses in North Korea in an effort to spur international cooperation to bring about change; a district court in Taiwan orders the detention of a prominent politician while he is investigated on suspicion of corruption.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

The UN Human Rights Council approves China’s Universal Periodic Review report but Western governments express frustration; a Hong Kong court continues holding pre-sentencing hearings for the 45 democratic politicians and activists who were convicted or pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit subversion; Japan’s Supreme Court declares the former Eugenics Protection Law unconstitutional and orders the government to compensate plaintiffs who were forcibly sterilized; a South Korean court gives a 15-year prison term to the man who stabbed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in the neck during a campaign event; Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang Party says mainland Chinese contractors should be allowed to carry out government-funded infrastructure projects on Taiwan’s outlying islands.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China’s Communist Party strips the last two defense ministers of party membership for accepting bribes and other corrupt behavior; the Chinese legislature drops a proposal to punish wearing clothing that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people; Hong Kong police charge a man with sedition for writing graffiti on seat backs in public buses; Japan charges two US Air Force servicemen with sexual assault in separate incidents; South Korea’s Constitutional Court throws out a law that automatically pardons property crimes against immediate family members; Taiwan President Lai Ching-te petitions the Constitutional Court to review controversial legislation passed by the opposition that gives the Legislative Yuan new powers to investigate the executive branch. Read more.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China says that persons deemed to be advocating Taiwan separatism could receive the death penalty; a Hong Kong court sentences 17 people to prison for their roles in a standoff between police and protesters at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2019; Japan’s top court recognizes a transgender women’s parental rights with respect to a child conceived using her frozen sperm but born after her transition; the South Korean Supreme Court declines to halt the government’s plan to increase the number of medical students; Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan reaffirms a set of amendments that controversially expand its investigatory powers. Read more.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

A Chinese court sentences feminist activist Huang Xueqin and labor activist Wang Jianbing to prison for inciting subversion against the state; a Canadian judge resigns from a part-time position on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal; a Japanese court begins hearing a lawsuit by five women who say they have been unconstitutionally blocked from choosing sterilization surgery; South Korea’s main opposition leader is indicted on bribery charges; Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party says it will appeal to the public for support as it seeks to undo a legislative power grab. Read more.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China's Supreme People’s Court releases typical cases involving criminal punishment for cheating on exams ahead of the annual national college entrance exam; two senior British judges resign from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal; Japan’s legislature approves a new child support fund aimed at boosting births by sharing the costs of child rearing; South Korea suspends a 2018 inter-Korean agreement on lowering front-line military tensions as North Korea sends garbage-filled balloons across the border; Taiwan's Constitutional Court says the current height requirements for police and firefighters are unconstitutional because they exclude women more often than they exclude men. Read more.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China's judicial organs and Ministry of Education mark international Children’s Day with reports and guidelines about efforts to protect children’s rights; a Hong Kong court convicts 14 democrats of attempting to subvert state power by holding an unofficial primary election; the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights issues a report about rights problems in Japan; South Korea's Supreme Court upholds the conviction of a journalist who published the name and photo of an accused child abuser; Taiwan's legislature passes controversial bills intended to strengthen its power over the executive branch, but legal hurdles loom. Read more.

This Week in Asian Law

This Week in Asian Law

China’s Ministry of Public Security says it is taking measures to open up all of China’s hotels to foreign guests, ending a system in which hotels needed special approval to house foreigners; the Hong Kong government moves to establish control over the board that licenses social workers, calling it a national security issue; a Japanese court rejects a South Asian woman’s lawsuit against the city of Tokyo for alleged racial discrimination by the police; South Korea’s Constitutional Court holds a final hearing of claims that the government harmed citizens by failing to take more action on climate change; Taiwan’s legislature ignores demonstrators and moves closer to passing bills that would allow it to investigate executive-branch officials and demand they answer questions or face criminal penalties. Read more.