ETC case lawyer faulted

The People First Party (PFP) told the government yesterday that the lawyer it hired for the electronic toll collection (ETC) case has a conflict of interest because he works for the law firm that also represents the other side in the case.

The PFP's legislative caucus told a press conference that Chuang Kuo-ming (莊國明) -- the lawyer who was hired by the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau to defend the government in the case -- works for Chuang, Lin & Wu International Law Firm (長江大方國際律師事務所), while three lawyers from the same firm -- Wu Hung-cheng (吳宏城), Tsai Kun-chung (蔡坤鐘) and Wang Yen-yu (王妍玉) -- have been hired to defend Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co's (遠通電收) broker, Tsai Chin-hung (蔡錦鴻), who is the target in the litigation.

PFP Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), convener of the party's legislative caucus, said Article 32 of the Code of Ethics for Lawyers (律師倫理規範) stipulates that lawyers from the same law firm should not represent both sides in the same case in order to avoid a conflict of interest, and that upon discovering a conflict of interest they should immediately notify their clients and resolve the situation.

PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said Tsai was indicted by the Taipei District Public Prosecutors Office for using bribery to obtain confidential information from government officials to help Far Eastern win the ETC contract.

"How can anyone expect the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to win the litigation if its legal counsel also represents the other side?" Liu said.

Minister of Transportation and Communication Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪) "owes the people a clear explanation," Liu said.

Chen Chien-yu (陳建宇), director of the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau, said Tsai hired the three lawyers to defend him in a separate criminal case involving the ETC corruption scandal, in which Tsai has been charged with profiteering through bribery.

Chen acknowledged that even though the law firm represented the two sides in separate cases, it was still controversial.

He said that after realizing there was a conflict of interest, his agency had requested that the law firm stop working for Tsai, and that the company had agreed after its latest debate in court on behalf of Tsai.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications decided on March 24 to allow Far Eastern to continue operating the ETC system on freeways after the company agreed to lower the price of on-board units (OBUs) to NT$680 and to offer a refund for the units to those who install the device before Feb. 10 next year and use it to make 100 toll payments within the next two years.

The company obtained the right to operate the electronic toll collection under a build-operate-transfer formula but was engulfed by complaints about the price of the OBU and other problems. Its operations were further complicated by a suspected corruption scandal involving government officials in the bidding process.

In a recent ruling, the Taipei High Administrative Court rejected the government's choice of Far Eastern as the best applicant to set up the toll system, citing a flawed screening process.