The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the Taiwan High Court's verdict on Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) libel lawsuit against The Journalist magazine. The weekly refused to offer an apology as per the court's orders and vowed to file for a second review of the case, as well as request a constitutional interpretation.
According to the ruling in December, the magazine needs to buy half-page ads on the front pages of four major Chinese-language newspapers to publish a clarification and apology.
The Supreme Court ruling came after the court heard an unprecedented debate on the case on Tuesday.
At issue was the grand justices' constitutional interpretation of Article 509, which states "the press is entitled to raise appropriate questions about any suspicious fact or person." However, this article applies only to criminal cases.
Citing the magazine's failure to verify the information, the Supreme Court overruled the magazine's appeal and upheld the High Court's decision.
"The key to the magazine's loss in the case is that it had failed to provide concrete evidence to prove its allegation," said Lee Jin-feng (
Although the court agreed that the media is entitled to freedom of the press, Lee said that the media should do their utmost to verify information and report with as few mistakes as humanly possible.
Calling the verdict "disappointing," the magazine's president, Wang Chien-chuang (
"The ruling is not only illegal, but also encroaches on the Constitution," Wang said. "In addition to requesting a second review of the case, we'll request a constitutional interpretation of Article 509 and 11 from the Council of Grand Justices."
Huang Chuang-shia (
"We're not fighting for ourselves, we're fighting for the nation's media industry as a whole," he said.
Lu's attorneys, on the other hand, lauded the Supreme Court's decision, saying the case had set a precedent for future similar cases.
"The moral of this case is that the media should pay the price for not doing their job right and failing to double-check the facts," said Yu Mei-nu (
The Vice President's Office yesterday also issued a press release, calling on the public to pressure the magazine to obey the court ruling and carry out its legal obligations as soon as possible.
The statement also outlined what it viewed as the three lessons of the case. The first dealt with the freedom of the press and the media's obligations. While the press enjoys freedom of speech, the statement said, it should fulfill its social obligations.
The second was about journalistic ethics, where the statement said that the duty of the media is to reports facts not to fabricate.
Finally, the statement said the media should respect the rule of law and safeguard social order and national interest.
Lu sued the magazine for publishing a story in November 2000 that claimed she had called its editor-in-chief to spread a rumor that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was having an affair with one of his female subordinates, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
The magazine alleged that Lu spread the rumor in order to unseat Chen. Lu filed a civil suit against seven people at the magazine on Dec. 21, 2000, demanding a formal apology from the magazine, saying the story had damaged her reputation.
On April 10, 2002, the Taipei District Court found the defendants not guilty of criminal libel, basing its decision on Article 509, although the court ruled that the story had damaged Lu's reputation.
The court also ordered the seven defendants to "clarify and admit" their mistake and publish a statement to that effect on the front pages of the nation's 32 newspapers as well as broadcasting it on radio and TV for three days.
On Dec. 13, 2002, the High Court upheld the verdict on appeal but reduced the punishment to run one-day front-page advertisements in four major Chinese-language newspapers. The court also declined Lu's request that the defendants broadcast a clarification on radio and TV for three days.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS