Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) yesterday said that prosecutors are not obligated to report to lawmakers and answer their questions and urged lawmakers not to "make the same mistake" again.
The Legislature's Judiciary Committee yesterday invited Chen and Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office Prosecutor-General Chu Nan (
"Please be advised! The Interpretation Article 325 to the Constitution clearly states that prosecutors stay neutral while they are investigating a case. Interpretation Article 461 also said that prosecutors are not obligated to report to any government offices to answer any government officials' questions," Chen said. "As a result, I told Chu not to come today."
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen said that only prosecutor generals or the state public prosecutor general has the authorization to order other prosecutors or ask them to brief a case. Other than this, prosecutors are not responsible to anybody.
"This is clearly stated in the law. Please respect this," he said.
The minister said that he hoped that it would not happen again.
"This is a mistake and I hope that the same mistake will not be repeated," he said.
Chen's remarks at the meeting yesterday morning stunned lawmakers.
PFP Legislator Chou His-wei (
"Please be advised as well that you guys, including prosecutors, belong to the Cabinet. However, Cabinet members are all obligated to report to the Legislative Yuan and answer lawmakers' questions. That is also stated in the Constitution. How dare you? You told us not to make the same mistake again but I also want to tell you to respect the system and respect the Legislative Yuan," Chou said.
"Even though Chu is absent today, our questions for him still exist and we will keep inviting him to join our meetings in the near future," Chou said.
Chen did not respond to Chou's protest as the meeting continued. However, Chou had to dismiss the meeting a few minutes later because there was another quarrel between DPP Legislator Liu Chun-hsiung (
Su was complaining to Chen that Kaohsiung prosecutors had overlooked a suspect in their investigation. He said that he possessed evidence to prove that a particular suspect was guilty and hoped that law enforcement officers would re-investigate it.
While Su was complaining, he implied that the "overlooked suspect" was Liu.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS