The Council of Grand Justices released Constitutional Interpretation no. 665 on Oct. 16. Most of the justices agreed that combining former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) cases and his long-term detention were constitutional. However, six of the justices voiced partly or wholly differing opinions. The biggest controversy was whether the Taipei District Court’s change of judges in Chen’s trial after the combining of the cases violated the principle of legally competent judges.
Some justices believe the court’s case assignment guidelines are based on the principle of judicial autonomy. Since only the judge in a given case has the authority to reassign it by applying to have it combined with a related case presided over by another judge, neither the court president nor the chief judge can arbitrarily interfere with case assignment. Compared with Article 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) regarding the combination of related cases that are subject to the jurisdiction of several courts, these guidelines put more emphasis on judicial autonomy.
Other justices believed such internal court guidelines treat case combination and the changing of judges as internal affairs, thus violating the principle of legal reservation. This lacks fairness, justice and transparency, violating guarantees of the public’s litigation rights. They are therefore unconstitutional.
A verdict is credible because a trial is fair. Because of this credibility, the public are willing to accept verdicts and therefore obey the law. Fairness is therefore fundamental. The Constitution stipulates the autonomy of judges and protects their status in the hope that they will reject external interference to make fair and conscientious rulings. The Constitution gives the public litigation rights and guarantees the right to a fair trial.
Although the principle of legally competent judges is not explicitly stated in Taiwanese legislation, the concept of “legal jurisdiction” in Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that “a court of the place where an offence is committed or where an accused is domiciled, located, or resides shall have jurisdiction.”
This is designed to avoid possible manipulation of case assignment. Also, the concept of “jurisdiction transfer” in Article 10 of the code states that an immediately superior court shall transfer a case to another court when an unfair trial is likely to occur. Such efforts are made for the sake of fairness. I believe the legally competent judge principle is not the core of the problem because it is merely one of the measures for a fair trial.
Do the Taipei District Court’s guidelines really violate the fair trial principle? Most justices believe they do not. Still, fairness is emotional rather than formal.
If procedures are not transparent enough, the public may feel manipulation has occurred or that the verdict is unfair, thus damaging the judiciary’s credibility, as well as the court’s role as an institution for fair trials.
I agree that the court must draw up guidelines for internal duty assignment but it is unfortunate that mainstream opinion rarely takes in the viewpoint of those involved in a case, especially that of an accused.
District courts have their own guidelines for case assignment but assignment and case combination are inconsistent. The only agreement is that an accused cannot express an opinion on case combination. However, the accused bear the consequences so they must be informed about case combination prior to the fact, be given the chance to express their opinions during the process and the opportunity to express dissent afterward.
Such procedural protection will dispel public doubts.
Carol Lin is an assistant professor in the Graduate Institute of Technology Law at National Chiao Tung University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
In the US’ National Security Strategy (NSS) report released last month, US President Donald Trump offered his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. The “Trump Corollary,” presented on page 15, is a distinctly aggressive rebranding of the more than 200-year-old foreign policy position. Beyond reasserting the sovereignty of the western hemisphere against foreign intervention, the document centers on energy and strategic assets, and attempts to redraw the map of the geopolitical landscape more broadly. It is clear that Trump no longer sees the western hemisphere as a peaceful backyard, but rather as the frontier of a new Cold War. In particular,
When it became clear that the world was entering a new era with a radical change in the US’ global stance in US President Donald Trump’s second term, many in Taiwan were concerned about what this meant for the nation’s defense against China. Instability and disruption are dangerous. Chaos introduces unknowns. There was a sense that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have a point with its tendency not to trust the US. The world order is certainly changing, but concerns about the implications for Taiwan of this disruption left many blind to how the same forces might also weaken
As the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) races toward its 2027 modernization goals, most analysts fixate on ship counts, missile ranges and artificial intelligence. Those metrics matter — but they obscure a deeper vulnerability. The true future of the PLA, and by extension Taiwan’s security, might hinge less on hardware than on whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can preserve ideological loyalty inside its own armed forces. Iran’s 1979 revolution demonstrated how even a technologically advanced military can collapse when the social environment surrounding it shifts. That lesson has renewed relevance as fresh unrest shakes Iran today — and it should
As the new year dawns, Taiwan faces a range of external uncertainties that could impact the safety and prosperity of its people and reverberate in its politics. Here are a few key questions that could spill over into Taiwan in the year ahead. WILL THE AI BUBBLE POP? The global AI boom supported Taiwan’s significant economic expansion in 2025. Taiwan’s economy grew over 7 percent and set records for exports, imports, and trade surplus. There is a brewing debate among investors about whether the AI boom will carry forward into 2026. Skeptics warn that AI-led global equity markets are overvalued and overleveraged
RSS