Legislature may vote on fugitive's arrest

After a two-month adjournment, the Legislative Yuan got back to business yesterday with its first task being to ponder a vote allowing the arrest of the KMT's fugitive lawmaker Kuo Ting-tsai (郭廷才), who remains in hiding since a warrant for his arrest was issued.

Kuo, who became a fugitive after a probe into his involvement in a NT$1.7 billion embezzlement began, is shielded from arrest by a constitutional immunity preventing lawmakers from being arrested while the legislature is in session. Kuo's immunity started with the commencement of the current session at midnight on Tuesday.

The Legislative Yuan, however, can vote on whether to allow a protected lawmaker to be arrested.

In the wake of widespread concerns over Kuo's arrest, Yao Eng-chi (饒穎奇), deputy speaker of the Legislative Yuan, said yesterday that the legislature works on a collegial system, and therefore everyone has a say on whether to permit Kuo's arrest.

Yao said it won't be the first time the legislature votes to permit a lawmaker's arrest. In 1985 the legislature voted to allow investigative bodies to arrest Tsai Chung-chou (蔡辰洲), a former KMT lawmaker who was then involved in a multi-billion scam of the Tenth Credit Cooperative (十信), of which he was chairman. That vote was held at the request of law enforcers and allowed Tsai to be arrested in the island's first highly publicized financial scam.

Kuo, who is chairman of the Tungkang Credit Cooperative (東港信用合作社) in Pingtung County, is accused of breach of trust and falsifying documents to cover up the embezzlement of NT$1.7 billion.

The scandal came to light in early July when investigators at the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (中央存款保險公司) discovered staff of the cooperative had tampered with its daily deposit balance and had also forged account statements at the Taiwan Cooperative Bank (台灣省合作庫).

Prosecutors from the Pingtung County Prosecutors' Office issued a warrant for Kuo on Aug. 26, but investigators have drawn fire for failing to arrest the three-term lawmaker before the immunity began.

Previously, all lawmakers were immune from arrest for the entire duration of their tenure, but a 1997 constitutional amendment narrowed the scope of the protection to the period of legislative sessions.

Despite the fact that constitutional protection for legislators exists in many other democracies, scholars attacked the tradition, saying that the privilege is often misused by the island's politicians.

"The tradition of immunity stems from fears that a legislature could be threatened by authoritarian leaders or executive powers. But in Taiwan, good laws sometimes yield bad effects because of their misuse by people," said Lin Tzu-yi (林子儀), professor of law at National Taiwan University.

Lin also pointed out the responsibilities of the legislature in preventing abuse of the immunity, suggesting it no longer covers up the unlawful acts of lawmakers under investigation.

"The legislature's decision is key to the integrity of justice. If a lawmaker has knowledge of [another] lawmaker's breach of the legal system, that lawmaker should just hand them over to the justice system," Lin said. "And the judicial body, which is often under fire for its inaction, should seize the opportunity to get the suspect during the adjournment period."

The controversy over lawmakers' immunity also exists at the local level, with a number of politicians having used their immunity to escape law enforcement.