The Judicial Yuan said its proposal to establish a “grand chamber” within the Supreme Court might be the turning of a new page in the history of the judiciary.
The Judicial Yuan yesterday proposed draft amendments to the Organic Act for Courts (法院組織法) and the Organic Act for Administrative Courts (行政法院組織法) that would create the chamber if passed.
The establishment of a grand chamber would improve the transparency and rulings of final appeals, Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lu Tai-lang (呂太郎) said.
Photo: CNA
The current method of arriving at a final verdict through deliberation by the criminal and civil sections of the Supreme Court is not academically sound, Lu said.
The grand chamber’s ultimate duty would be to ensure consistency in rulings delivered by the courts, Judicial and Administrative Section Chief Wang Mei-ying (王梅英) said.
Its function is to unify legal interpretations if rulings of the collegiate bench of the final court of appeal differ from lower appellate courts’ rulings, Lu said, adding that the chamber would be consulted over cases in which important legal principles are disputed.
However, the grand chamber would not offer final rulings over the cases themselves, Lu said.
The chamber would be formed by 11 judges from the Supreme Court and nine from the Supreme Administrative Court, while the court that received the final appeal would provide the presiding judge, according to the proposal.
The chamber would hear disputes on legal definitions, and as such definitions require legal expertise, representation for the plaintiffs and defendants is mandatory, Wang said, adding that if members of the chamber see fit, they may consult the opinions of outside experts.
Aside from the normal members, all members of the civil and criminal sections should be included in an open debate on legal definitions of any case brought to the chamber, including the judge from the original presiding court, Lu said.
The judge from the original court should use the result derived from the chamber debate as the basis for their ruling, Lu said.
Deliberations of legal definitions by the civil and criminal sections of the Supreme Court is good, but not legally binding, Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheng Yu-shan (鄭玉山) said, adding that he supports Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li’s (許宗力) proposed grand chamber system, as it would provide a solution to fundamental problems with the judiciary.
Once the chamber has been established, the practice of criminal and civil section deliberation on legal definitions would be suspended and transferred to the chamber, the Judicial Yuan said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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