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Justice ministry to help 319 committee

Vice Minister of Justice Hsieh Wen-ding (謝文定) said yesterday at the legislative Judicial Committee's meeting that prosecutors will assist the 319 Shooting Truth Inves-tigation Special Committee (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會) when "its requests are not against the Constitution."

"The committee may have lots of problems when its members are doing their work because many articles of the statute [establishing the committee] are vague and run contrary to the Constitution," Hsieh said.

Hsieh's remarks irritated People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋). Chou said Hsieh's remarks on constitutional matters were uncalled for.

"The Ministry of Justice's job is not to discuss whether [the committee] is compatible with the Constitution. The ministry's job is to carry out its investigative duties and help whenever necessary," Chou said.

"The committee was established in accordance with the law, which was passed by the Legislative Yuan. The ministry does not have any authority to overturn anything at this moment," he added.

Hsieh raised the issue of the committee's authority covered under Article 8-1 of the statute. The article states that the committee has the authority to investigate all "potential criminal allegations" concerning the March 19 assassination attempt. But the article does not clearly define what "potential criminal allegations" entail.

"What are `potential criminal allegations?' Does a committee member have the authority to indict anyone now that they can order around prosecutors, which is obviously against the Constitution?" Hsieh said.

"Since the article is not clear enough, it will definitely create a lot of confusion within the law enforcement community," he said.

Hsieh further said that the committee enjoys the authority to investigate administrative and criminal cases, which used to be the jurisdiction of the Control Yuan and prosecutors.

"[The statue] is vague and dangerous," Hsieh said.

Currently, to carry out a raid or an arrest, law enforcement officials, including police, special agents of the Bureau of Investigation or military police, are not allowed to do anything until warrants from prosecutors are approved by judges.

The committee, however, has the authority to interrogate suspects without first seeking a warrant.

"This infringes on human rights, I'm afraid," Hsieh said.
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