Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw (賴英照) was under fire yesterday amid growing calls for his resignation in the wake of bribery charges against senior judges and a prosecutor.
Earlier this week Lai said he was “enraged” by the case and promised to improve judicial discipline within two months.
The Judicial Reform Foundation yesterday said this was an empty promise as it called for Lai to step down immediately.
“I can’t believe that one of the detained judges is a member of the Judicial Yuan’s ‘disciplinary committee’ and ‘personnel affairs evaluation board.’ How can a person like this evaluate his coworkers?” Judicial Reform Foundation secretary-general Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) said at a press conference.
Lin was referring to Taiwan High Court Judge Chen Jung-ho (陳榮和), who was detained on Wednesday along with High Court judges Lee Chun-ti (李春地) and Tsai Kuang-chih (蔡光治) and Banciao Prosecutor Chiu Mao-jung (邱茂榮) for allegedly accepting bribes from former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Miaoli County commissioner Ho Chih-hui (何智輝) in exchange for a not guilty verdict in a property case.
The foundation said Lai should establish an evaluation system — administered by a neutral party, not the Judicial Yuan — for judges to weed out the unqualified ones.
Huang Lin-lun (黃麟倫), deputy director of the Judicial Yuan’s Administration Department, attended the press conference, but dismissed criticism that the Judicial Yuan has been lax in pushing for judicial reform.
The Judicial Yuan has been studying the possibility of an independent review system for judges, Huang said.
When asked at a separate setting if Lai should resign, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he could not comment because the corruption allegations against the judges and prosecutor are still being investigated.
However, he vowed to crack down on corruption, broaching the idea of making the UN Convention Against Corruption into law. He said he had already asked the Ministry of Justice to look into the matter.
It was deeply distressing to find out four judges allegedly took bribes, but feeling distressed was not enough, Ma said. Concrete steps had to be taken, he said.
He said it was important to put into practice the proposals made during a judicial reform forum 11 years ago, including enacting a law on judges. Such legislation was important because prosecutors and judges would be evaluated and they could be fired if they did not meet the necessary standards, he said.
“I always believe before you demand that somebody do something right, you must set a good example and never be afraid of disclosing family scandals,” he said. “Once government corruption is uncovered, we must take the initiative to investigate, deal with it in a lucid and speedy manner, cooperate with the investigation and explain to the public.”
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2