Chen to crack down on misbehaving prosecutors

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) yesterday said that within six months the ministry will propose a prosecutors' evaluation act (檢察官評鑑法) to give it the power to remove prosecutors who perform badly or whose conduct "embarrasses the judicial system."

Chen made the promise during a meeting of the legislature's Judicial Committee yesterday morning, after he was questioned by lawmakers about recent news stories on the alleged escapades of prosecutors in Kaohsiung and Taichung.

Three Kaohsiung prosecutors were investigated after it was reported they attended a party at a hostess bar, while a Taichung prosecutor's alleged Casanova lifestyle landed him in hot water.

Chen said that as far as he was concerned most stories of prosecutors "misbehaving" were just rumors. But, he said, the ministry will devise a strict list of punishments for errant officers of the law.

"I admit that some of our pro-secutors have not behaved themselves and we need to do some-thing," Chen said. "The ministry will introduce the new prosecutors' evaluation act within six months to remove those who do not perform well or whose behavior embarrasses the judicial system."

He said that the act would introduce a formal evaluation system for prosecutors, though it was too early to say what form it would take.

Song Kuo-yeh (宋國業), deputy director of the ministry's prosecutorial department, later told the Taipei Times that "behavior that embarrasses the judicial system" referred to existing regulations which forbid law enforcement officers from gambling and "attending inappropriate activities."

However, there is no definition of what constitutes "inappropriate activities." Individual incidents are decided on an ad hoc basis by the ministry's Inspection Department.

Article 81 of the Constitution prohibits the firing of judges or prosecutors unless they are found guilty of a criminal offense or are formally disciplined. But there are no regulations defining what would constitute a disciplinary offense or penalty.

Nevertheless, Chen has been quick to act in the cases of the four prosecutors who ended up in the headlines.

On Tuesday evening the ministry's Inspection Department announced the results of its probes into complaints about the four.

The department said that prosecutors Chin Te-jin (秦德進), Liu Yun (劉昀) and Wang Chao-chen (王朝震) had attended a private party at a Kaohsiung hostess bar on June 27 last year. The investigation found that Chin had been invited by a friend to attend the party and he in turn invited Liu and Wang.

However, the ministry denied allegations that the party had been given by drug dealers.

The department also announced that the allegations that Taichung Prosecutor Chen Shun-ming (陳舜銘) had cheated on his wife with two other women were true. Officials said he had lied to the women, telling them that his wife was dying of cancer.

On Wednesday night the justice minister decided to fire Chin and suspend Liu and Wang for five years. During the pair's suspension, they will not be paid nor will they be allowed to resign.

As for Chen Shun-ming in Taichung, Chen Ding-nan fired him yesterday morning.

However, DPP Legislator Kuo Wen-cheng (郭玟成), who is from Kaohsiung, told the minister yesterday that the three prosecutors from his city were not the worst such offenders.

"I have been told that other than going to hostess bars, many Kaohsiung prosecutors also gamble. Do you realize that, Mr. Minister?" Kuo said.