Minister of Justice Yeh Chin-fong (
"She deserves the honor because she was single-handedly able to hold back the combined effort of other members of the legal community," said Sue Wang (
Much of the criticism of the minister came out of the National Judicial Reform Conference, held in July, which saw a split between ministry representatives and other participants of the conference, notably between members of the court system and lawyers.
While a majority of participants agreed about the need to change existing criminal justice procedures to create a so-called "adversarial" system such as that used in the US, the minister came out strongly against the change.
As one of five decision-makers at the conference, Yeh's opposition created a deadlock on many issues concerning changes to the criminal justice system.
The reform activists, who had very high expectations for change, said that Yeh's rigid stance had turned the conference into a fruitless exercise. Yeh was later dubbed the "no, no" minister by disappointed delegates.
The top ten survey, conducted by the Judicial Reform Foundation, contained opinions from two groups -- members of the general public, who made their choices based on media coverage of judicial events, and legal specialists such as lawyers and legal reporters.
The justice minister herself topped the list of judicial persons last year -- albeit not in the way she probably would have wanted.
Next to the minister on the list were the judges and the prosecutors reportedly involved in a recent insider-trading scandal.
A legislator disclosed in November last year that the judges and prosecutors in question had collectively invested in stocks of Taiwan Pineapple Corp (
The judicial officials involved are now being investigated by the Control Yuan, the island's watchdog organ on public officials.
Independent legislator Wu Tse-yuan (
Wu, who was released on medical grounds in March 1998, was elected to the legislature in December of the same year. The legislature appointed Wu as one of representatives to the National Judicial Reform Conference last year. The appointment, however, was eventually rejected by organizers of the conference who believed that including someone as controversial as Wu might have turned the conference into a farce.
The survey also recorded the top 10 legal news events of 1999.
The July conference was given first place for its significance to the island's judicial reform. Other events include the Taiwan Pineapple scandal, driving under the influence becoming an indictable crime, disclosure of the court records of 204 elected representatives and implementation of a restraining order in cases of domestic violence.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS