A group opposed to the death penalty commended yesterday's overhaul of the Criminal Code through a law amendment aimed at gradually abolishing the death penalty. The groups also urged for the strengthening of correctional counseling to inmates.
Yesterday's final reading of the Criminal Code amendment abolished the death penalty for individuals under the age of 18 or over the age of 80.
"This amendment is on the right track to abolish the death penalty. We think the time to gradually abolish more crimes leading to death penalties in the Code has arrived," said Wu Chi-kwang (
The alliance suggested that crimes that do not directly inflict harm on human life should be the first to have the death penalty abolished.
Wu stated that the death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking and kidnappings where victims remain alive should be the first to be abolished.
"Removing the death penalty from all the crimes at once may be a little too much for the public; therefore, gradual changes could be made," Wu said.
In order to ensure the public that the death penalty would not result in increased recidivism of released offenders, Wu emphasized that correctional and counseling services on the part of the prison administration must be strengthened.
In addition, penalties for those who turn themselves in are also eased. According to the amendment, those who turn themselves will receive a lesser penalty than in the current Code.
Currently, Article 56 of the Criminal Code stipulates that if several successive acts constitute similar offenses, such successive acts may be considered to be one offense, but the punishment prescribed for the offense may be increased by up to one half.
An amendment was made to this article that all crimes will be classified through "crime type" and penalties will be handled independently.
The new change is intended to curb recidivism.
This major amendment, which was the first in the past 50 years, will take effect on July 1, 2006.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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