The Ministry of the Interior plans to expand police powers to allow on-the-spot arrests of domestic-abuse offenders, the ministry announced yesterday.
Under the Criminal Code, police are only entitled to arrest domestic-abuse offenders if they are witness to the incident or hold a warrant of arrest issued by prosecutors.
According to police statistics, some 2,480 domestic-abuse cases are reported each month. Last year, 17,376 cases were reported, with only 609 arrests made.
"The regulations are a massive hinderance to us and many victims are critical of our failure to arrest offenders after they have filed a report," Wang Chin-wang (王進旺), director-general of the National Police Administration, said in the min-istry's press conference. "To change the situation, we have decided to revise the Anti-Domestic Violence Law (家庭暴力防治法) to entitle police to arrest people who they believe are involved in domestic abuses."
Wang said that the amendment would allow police to deal with domestic abuse cases more effectively.
Lin Tzu-ling (
Police in the US are entitled to arrest domestic-abuse offenders as long as they believe that the offender would further endanger victims.
As International Women's Day approaches, the ministry yesterday launched a campaign to create a "zero tolerance" environment for Taiwan's women and children.
In yesterday's conference, the ministry officials also said that they would establish a community security system to trace sex offenders and notify the communities where they live, even though a number of technical problems have yet to be solved.
The campaign came after Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese