A man borrows NT$1 million from his friend, agreeing that the money will be returned in two months. The man also assures his friend that if he cannot raise enough cash, he'll sell his house to repay the debt.
But when the borrower fails to meet the loan repayment schedule, the creditor discovers that his debtor has already sold his house to pay off another debt. The case winds up in criminal court.
This is just one example of fraud suits that are common in Taiwan.
But the Ministry of Justice is now seeking to prevent similar cases from entering the criminal justice system. The ministry believes that a high proportion of fraud, misappropriation, breach of trust and other property crime cases are not really criminal in nature, and that the litigants should instead use the civil courts.
The ministry's policy has led to concerns that the rights of litigants may be hampered.
The ministry said that it is common for plaintiffs to use criminal lawsuits for purposes such as recovering a debt, as in the example above, and this has strained the criminal justice system.
There are two major reasons for the trend. First, the complainants do not need to pay court fees in criminal cases, as they do in civil lawsuits.
Second, in criminal cases the prosecutors' use of measures such as search and seizure put more pressure on the accused, justice ministry officials said.
"Prosecutors are often instruments in recovering debts and are hindered in their efforts to deal with genuine and serious criminal cases," director of the justice ministry's Department of Prosecutorial Affairs, Tsai Pi-yu (
The justice ministry recently issued guidelines asking prosecutors nationwide to simplify procedures for what it calls "false property crimes."
In the guidelines, the ministry tells prosecutors that when they find cases that look like they belong in a civil court, they can choose not to indict.
But this policy has led to some worries. Lawyer Yang Chung-sen (
"In many cases the victims suffer great losses, but the judges acquit the defendants in the mistaken belief that the cases are only debt disputes and therefore civil cases," Yang said.
"On the other hand, civil litigation not only carries high costs but often takes a long time. Even if the plaintiffs win the litigation, the debtors may have already disposed of their properties and the creditors might not get anything back."
Yang said that is why many creditors resort to using gangsters in their bid to collect debts, instead of filing a civil lawsuit.
He said that victims of property crimes are already vulnerable enough under the current circumstances, and will be even more so if prosecutors are encouraged not to pursue fraud cases.
The Judicial Reform Foundation (民間司法改革基金會) on Wednesday visited the justice ministry to argue that the policy was too hastily implemented.
The foundation agreed with the ministry that the problem of too many people "using criminal procedures for civil cases" should be addressed, but said the ministry should also ensure the rights of genuine victims of property crimes.
Responding to the inquiries, Tsai said the prosecutors are still required to make a thorough investigation of whether the lawsuits are criminal or not. Only when the prosecutor believes the case belongs in a civil court can they decide not to indict.
RSS