There are two reasons why the public should care about this. The first is the basic moral reason that the public should want its criminal justice system to find the truth or a close approximation of it. The second reason is more practical. The public forgets that every time an innocent person is convicted for a crime they did not commit, that a guilty person has escaped justice. In essence, when the cops and the courts convict the wrong person, the real "bad guy" gets away free. That fact often eludes the general public as well as the legal community.
It is a common misconception that the exclusion of illegal, involuntary confessions just benefits the defendant. In reality it benefits Taiwanese society at large and makes for better law enforcement and safer streets for us all. Kicking out "bad" confessions makes Taiwan a safer place for all of us.
Brian Kennedy is an attorney who writes and teaches on criminal justice and human rights issues.
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