President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday nominated Central Election Committee (CEC) Chairman Lai Hau-min (賴浩敏) as the head of the Judicial Yuan and former National Communications Commission chairman Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) as his deputy.
They were also nominated as members of the Council of Grand Justices. Nominations to both bodies require confirmation by the Legislative Yuan.
Last month, Ma approved Lai In-jaw’s (賴英照) resignation as president of the Judicial Yuan, but asked him to stay on as a council member. Hsieh Tsai-chuan (謝在全) took over as acting Judicial Yuan president until a replacement is found for the post.
Lai In-jaw quit in the midst of a corruption scandal involving three Taiwan High Court judges and one prosecutor suspected of taking bribes from a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
Ma yesterday also approved Lai In-jaw’s and Hsieh’s retirement as council members.
Ma told a press conference he had chosen Lai Hau-min and Su because both are honest and highly professional, with Lai a trained lawyer and Su a veteran law professor.
The two have experience in leading independent government agencies and are good at coordination and negotiation, Ma said, adding that they both cared about judicial reform and had the passion to restore public trust in the judiciary.
Ma said he expected the pair to push what he called the “people’s judicial reform” whereby the Judicial Yuan will join forces with honest judicial personnel as well as experts and individuals to clean up the justice system.
“For judicial reform to be successful, it cannot be dictated by a few people,” he said. “We want the help of everybody so we will know what they think and how they feel.”
Lai Hau-min said he was “shocked” by the president’s nomination, but decided to accept the responsibility with great pleasure.
Born in Miaoli and a graduate of National Taiwan University, Lai Hau-min also has a master’s degree in law from the University of Tokyo. He co-founded the Formosa Transnational law firm and practiced law for 46 years. He served as a CEC member for more than 20 years and was appointed chairman in September last year.
Lai Hau-min said he empathized with those disappointed at the justice system, saying there is a significant gap between the system and public expectations. The 71-year-old pledged to commit himself to judicial reform if the legislature confirms his nomination.
He said people wanted to see high-quality verdicts and judges who are even-tempered, clean, just and effective.
“They are not asking too much,” he said.
In addition to cracking down on corruption, Lai Hau-min said prevention was equally important and the long-term goal was to stamp out graft among civil servants. To that end, he said it was important to consolidate public consensus and map out the most effective and reasonable measures.
“People are getting impatient and hope to see some results,” Lai Hau-min said.
Su, former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi’s (蘇起) younger brother, is a friend of Ma from high school and university.
He said the nomination was a great honor, but also an onerous challenge and formidable task.
The 59-year-old, who has been teaching law for 29 years, said he decided to accept the challenge because there was no reason for him to abstain from the opportunity at a critical moment.
“The justice system is at a turning point,” he said. “The system itself is not bad, but many people are not happy about it. It is time to make it better, but if we fail, the system will plunge further into a downward spiral.”
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said the caucus would fully support the nominees during the legislature’s review of the president’s nomination, adding that Lai and Su Yeong-chin are both qualified for the posts.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, on the other hand, raised concerns that they were “political appointments” that would take away the independence of the judiciary.
DPP lawmakers are expected to vote against the appointments.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) called it a “step backwards for justice,” questioning Su Yeong-chin’s personal relationship with the president and saying Lai Hau-min did not have sufficient legal experience.
“I can’t see how Lai Hau-min is fit to become the president of the Judicial Yuan. He has never served as a grand justice, doesn’t have a doctorate and isn’t even a law professor,” Gao said.
DPP lawmakers raised concerns that real power in the judiciary would be assumed by Su Yeong-chin.
“Everybody knows about Su Chi’s close relationship with President Ma Ying-jeou ... this tie will complicate the [judiciary] and could compromise its independence,” DPP Legislator Kuo Jung-chung (郭榮宗) said.
KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), head of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, rebutted the DPP’s criticism of the nominees, saying that neither is obviously “pro-blue.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO AND FLORA WANG
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique