Print

Mail

wiki links

US Supreme Court Justice Scalia gives Taipei speech

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Clifford Wallace yesterday participated in a forum and shared their experiences with local judges, prosecutors law professors and students.

Scalia said that law changes as time goes by because people and cultures are always changing.

During Scalia's opening speech at the forum, he mentioned a case that he had presided over in the US as an example of a law that needed to be interpreted according to the contingencies of the situation. Scalia said that a little girl accused a man of attacking her. She was too afraid to identify the defendant while he was present in court even though the US Constitution requires a plaintiff to do so.

"It ended up that the girl testified in another room during the trial via the court's closed-circuit television system because my court decided to interpret the Constitution and approved her request ...," Scalia said. "The Constitution should be a living document."

Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) said that he hoped the forum presentations would inspire fresh ideas for Taiwan's judicial reform which has been underway for three years.

"I have always believed that the judicial system exists for the people and people expect the judicial system to be capable of protecting human rights, and be fair, free of corruption, transparent, convenient and efficient," he said. "I sincerely hope that people in our society continue to show concern for justice and jointly contribute to the establishment of a good judicial system for future generations."

The forum was titled "The Forum on Judicial Reform in Taiwan." It was held by the Asia Foundation in Taiwan and sponsored by the Taipei Bar Association, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Chinese Society of International Law, the Taiwan Law Society and the Lee and Li Law Firm.

Born on March 11, 1936 in Trenton, New Jersey, Scalia graduated from Harvard's law school in 1960. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1962 and Virginia Bar in 1970 and was first nominated by former US president Ronald Reagan as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court in 1986.

Wallace was born on Dec. 11, 1928 in San Diego, California. He possesses a law degree from University of California at Berkeley and was first appointed as a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by former US president Richard Nixon in 1972. He was the chief judge there from 1991 to 1996.

Scalia and Wallace arrived in Taiwan on Thursday afternoon and will leave next Wednesday. During their six-day stay, they will visit courts in Taipei and Hualien and the National Palace Museum (故宮博物院), and will meet with Weng on Monday afternoon.
This story has been viewed 1858 times.