Chen Ding-nan blasts piracy judges

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) yesterday said that judges presiding over cases dealing with piracy often hand down short sentences, which frustrates attempts to crack down on the crime.

"Law enforcement officers have fought very hard to catch as many pirates as possible. However, when a piracy-related case is transferred to the court, judges usually give the defendants sentences that are shorter than six months. In addition, many of the sentences allow the defendant to pay fines ranging from NT$600 a day to NT$900 a day instead of serving time. Is that punishment?" Chen said.

The minister made his remarks at a ceremony for the Ministry of Justice's anti-piracy crackdown at the ministry's lobby yesterday morning. The ministry also invited entertainer Kuo Tsu-chien (郭子乾), who is famous for impersonating Chen on his TV show, to join the ceremony.

Chen said that pirates would have received "serious" punishment if judges had consulted the sentences recommended in the Criminal Code and the Copyright Law during the trial.

However, according to the ministry's statistics, among the 1,379 piracy cases from January to December last year, 1,000 of the defendants received sentences shorter than six months.

"A punishment like this is actually useless," Chen said. "The pirates will still opt to pay the fines and continue damaging our country's image and reputation. Such actions frustrate law enforcement officers as well."

When approached by reporters, Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Yang Jen-shou (楊仁壽) refused to respond to Chen's remarks.

"I have to review the minister's remarks and understand what he was really trying to say before I can make any comment," Yang said.