The Ministry of Justice yesterday said that in addition to judges, prosecutors are also supposed be protected by the "Judge Law", a new law which is being organized by the Judicial Yuan.
The proposed law is aimed at protecting judges and ensuring that they can enforce the law and carry out their duties without any kind of pressure, no matter what the circumstances. The proposed law would also clearly regulate the obligations and rules of the job and the recruitment of judges.
"A lawsuit usually begins from prosecutors' investigation. In a criminal case, if a prosecutor does not indict the suspect, a judge will not have a case to preside over," said Prosecutorial Affairs Department Director Tsai Pi-yu (
"As a result, prosecutors should be protected by the same law and I strongly suggest having prosecutors covered by the new law," Tsai said.
Several judges and lawyers have also emphasized the importance of the proposed law.
Attorney Hsu Wen-bin (
Hsu was Hsinchu City mayor Tsai Jen-chien's (蔡仁堅) legal consultant when Tsai was investigated by prosecutors for his involvement in the Chu Mei-feng's (璩美鳳) sex-VCD case. He is also one of the defense counsels in the Hsichih trio case.
"Judicial Yuan officials should speed up their work on the `judge law' and send it to the Legislative Yuan as soon as possible," Hsu said. "We need a manual to define and protect a judge's work and we can take advantage of such a manual to punish those lazy judges who do not do their jobs well."
Hsu's remarks were echoed by Taiwan High Court Presiding Judge Tsai Jiung-tun (
Tsai presided over the defamation case between former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) wife Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠) and former New Party lawmakers Elmer Feng (馮滬祥), Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) and the New Party's Chinese Affairs Commission member Tai Chi (戴錡).
Tsai said there is a need for a well-organized means to ensure that police have no obstacles to carrying out their duties, to help officials recruit better judges or prosecutors and retire or punish those who do not perform well.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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