The following is a guest post by Tariq Ahmad, a foreign law specialist in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress, to which I contributed. Tariq has previously authored posts on Islamic Law in Pakistan – Global Legal Collection Highlights, the Law Library’s 2013 Panel Discussion on Islamic Law, Sedition Law in India, and FALQ posts on Proposals to Reform Pakistan’s …
The current COVID-19 pandemic has put the healthcare systems of countries around the world to the test. While governments typically had laws and institutions in place to deal with pandemics and similar health crises, these have often had to be revised to deal with the current pandemic. In many cases, drastic new measures have been …
This blog post is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series. It was recently reported that Dr. Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor who was among the first to raise the alarm about the coronavirus disease (now named COVID-19) and died after contracting the virus from a patient, had been reprimanded by the police for “spreading rumors.” On his Weibo …
This blog post is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series. In response to the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China has escalated measures to control the spread of the deadly virus, including locking down Wuhan and other cities in the province starting January 23, 2020. This followed an announcement …
The following is a guest post by Sayuri Umeda, a foreign law specialist who covers Japan and other countries in East and Southeast Asia. Sayuri has previously written posts for In Custodia Legis on various topics, including New Era, New Law Number, Holy Cow – Making Sense of Japanese Wagyu Cow Export Rules, Japanese Criminal Legal System as Seen Through the Carlos Ghosn Case, Disciplining Judges for …
A Chinese scientist recently claimed to have edited the DNA of human embryos and created the world’s first genetically edited babies, although his claim has not been verified so far. Chinese authorities reportedly said the incident as reported by the media “blatantly violated China’s relevant laws and regulations,” and ordered an investigation into the scientist’s claim. …
It is not uncommon for people nowadays to seek out assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), to conceive children. The technology allows freezing the embryos created through IVF for use at a later date, when for example fertility may become an issue. Disputes over who owns the frozen embryos may arise later, typically when …
As described in previous blog posts authored by Jenny and Tariq, the rapid expansion of Uber around the world has presented new challenges to regulators in foreign countries. It is interesting to note that China recently issued a departmental rule regulating “online taxi-booking services.” Effective November 1, 2016, the Interim Administrative Measures for the Business of Online …
We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. — Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854). In 2011, I wrote a guest post on the topic of trains and corruption when China‘s then Minister of Railways, Mr. Liu Zhijun, was removed from office for taking bribes relating to rail construction projects, in particular the …