Asian Legal Review

Indonesians could be jailed for criticising national politicians under a new law that came into force on Thursday, in what critics slammed as a major step back for the world’s third-biggest democracy.
The vaguely worded bill passed the 560-member house last month but has just become official, over the objections of President Joko Widodo who refused to sign off on the controversial legislation.
Widodo does not have veto power over the bill, although it can be challenged at the…

Regulatory technical standards on ‘strong customer authentication and common and secure open standards of communication’ for payment services businesses have been formally written into EU law.

The Justice Ministry began transferring seven of 13 former Aum Shinrikyo cult members on death row from the Tokyo detention centre to other facilities across the country, government sources said Wednesday, likely moving them one step closer to execution.
With the Aum-related trials wrapping up in January, the ministry is considering when they should be hanged for the series of crimes they committed that left 29 people dead. The transfer is expected to be completed on Thursday, according to the…

A UK High Court judge has given Barclays the go-ahead to complete the ring-fencing of its retail banking activities into a new entity.

The Philippines said on Wednesday it is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to what President Rodrigo Duterte called “outrageous” attacks by UN officials and violations of due process by the ICC.
The decision marks an about-face by Duterte, who initially welcomed a preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court, announced last month, into a complaint filed by a Philippine lawyer accusing the president and top officials of crimes against humanity…

Universities in England will be rated by subject under new plans announced by the UK government. The new scheme, if introduced, would expand the scope of the existing Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF).

Singapore said Tuesday it was “working closely” with the United Nations after a leaked draft report said two local firms sold luxury items to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions. The UN report, cited by the BBC, alleges that the two Singaporean companies and other firms in Asia had been supplying luxury goods, including wine and spirits, to North Korea until as recently as July 2017, despite the sanctions aimed at forcing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons programme…

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who lost an eye fighting for the Khmer Rouge in 1975, has spoken about the “extremely good” Japanese contact lens he has been using in his other eye for more than two decades.
Speaking on Tuesday at an event concerning national road improvement under Japanese grants, Hun Sen said some of his colleagues even joked that he has a long-term vision for the country’s governance and development because of his good contact lens.
“I visited Japan…

A recent ruling has highlighted the willingness and competence of courts to determine a tribunal’s scope of jurisdiction over disputes between investors and nation state governments, an arbitration expert has said.

A Bangladeshi plane with 71 people on board crashed near Kathmandu airport on Monday as it was coming in to land, officials said. Firefighters battled to extinguish the burning wreckage and rescue passengers.
At least 27 people were killed, according to an official.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the football pitch where the plane crashed, to the east of the runway at Nepal’s only international airport, in the capital Kathmandu. “There were 67 passengers and 4 crew…