The public’s patience with the justice system has been severely tried of late, and the recently exposed corruption scandal allegedly involving several High Court judges has pushed things to the boiling point. The idea of establishing some form of anti-corruption agency has been raised on several occasions, and it has just been brought up again.
Only a few days ago, the government announced it would set up a special unit under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. Everyone wants and expects something to be done about corruption, but only time will tell whether this latest initiative will ultimately deliver. However, one thing is certain: If the government wants the anti-corruption unit to be successful, it must first look very carefully at the inherent problems in the current system.
Presently, the institution on the front line of the fight against corruption is the Department of Government Ethics (DGE), which has a presence within all administrative departments and falls under the ministry. These offices are responsible for preventing corruption, as well as uncovering, reporting and prosecuting any cases that do arise.
Unfortunately, it has too little authority and too frequently pressure from higher up in the hierarchy restricts its operational independence. Often it has to be satisfied with catching the small offenses and letting the big ones get away. Also, since it is not judiciary police it is only permitted to conduct spot checks and are not authorized to investigate the judiciary. Civil servants under investigation, especially the higher-ranking ones, are not even obliged to cooperate. When the DGE does discover a case of suspected corruption, it has to turn it over to the ministry’s Bureau of Investigation (BOI). The DGE has never been able to live up to its potential as a result.
Although the bureau does have the right to investigate the judiciary, it is still under the ministry’s jurisdiction and must comply with directives from prosecutors. It is also subject to many restrictions on what it can and cannot do.
Another problem is that corruption is only one of the many crimes the bureau is expected to investigate, so it is impossible to concentrate solely on corruption cases. The Control Yuan only has the authority to impeach officials and the only body that can discipline them is the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries. If the Control Yuan does discover any evidence of criminal activity it must turn the case over to the public prosecutors. In addition, current legislation places no restrictions on Control Yuan members to prohibit them from investigating cases under ongoing investigation or review. As a result, they could influence the way prosecutors pursue their case by issuing corrective measures in connection to ongoing cases.
The only way we can guarantee an effective anti-corruption body is to have a special investigations unit that reports directly to the supreme prosecutor-general and consists of prosecutors who not only have the authority to discipline offenders, but who are high enough ranking to be immune from outside interference. This body would need to be a sparsely staffed unit consisting of non-permanent members whose remit would be limited to high level corruption, not general, everyday forms of corruption.
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