Chen encourages lawyers to celebrate on their day

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday encouraged Taiwan's lawyers to continue pressing for judicial reform.

At a celebration of Lawyers' Day held by the Taiwan Bar Association, the president recognized the Judicial Yuan's efforts in reforming itself over the past three years and encouraged lawyers to fight for justice and keep their faith in truth.

"In the past, under dictatorship, lawyers could not speak out for justice. That was pathetic," he said.

The president gave the "Lei Chen incident" as an example.

Lei was the founder and publisher of the Free China biweekly. He was arrested on Sept. 4, 1960, for treason and sentenced to 10 years at the behest of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石). The magazine, launched in 1950, was closed in 1960 because of its pro-democracy views.

Chen said that six hours before Lei's trial, Chiang held a secret meeting with judges, prosecutors and the defense counsel. Chiang instructed them to sentence Lei to at least 10 years and to reject the appeal, Chen said.

"This is an obvious example where politics interfered with justice, which should be avoided," Chen said. "Justice stands alone and no one is guilty before he is convicted. We should keep that in mind."

Chen also asked lawyers to be the bridge between the public and the government. The public will grow more confident in the justice system through the hard work of lawyers, he said.

Taiwan Bar Association President Tseng Chao-chang (曾肇昌) said that it was part of a lawyer's job to help the government establish the mechanism for justice, provide legal knowledge to the public and help them defend their innocence when necessary.

"A lawyer should fight for human rights, justice and truth. There is no question about it," he said.

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) and Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) also attended yesterday's ceremony.