Cabinet spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) yesterday dismissed media speculation that Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) intended to interfere in the judiciary regarding two gender-related legal cases.
Shih said the premier did not instruct the Cabinet’s Commission on Women’s Rights Promotion to establish a special “task force” to pressure Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw (賴英照) to increase awareness of gender issues.
Liu only “agreed” to a proposal initiated by the commission during a meeting of the panel on Thursday to form a “team” to “express concerns” to Lai regarding gender equality during trials, “instead of trying to meddle in judicial affairs,” she said.
Shih made the comments after several media outlets reported yesterday that the commission launched a petition calling for measures to educate judicial personnel on gender equality issues under Liu’s instruction.
Last August, a man indicted for fondling a woman’s bosom was acquitted, while in June a man who was indicted for kissing his ex-wife’s 13-year-old daughter was also found not guilty.
Commission member Chou Ching-yu (周清玉) said on Saturday that the rulings were a shock and reflected the gap between the aim of the Sexual Assault Prevention Act (性侵害犯罪防治法) and Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法) and the views of judges.
“Commission member Chou and other members mentioned in the meeting that there was a gap between the acquittals of the two cases and the expectation of the public,” Shih said. “They said it was necessary to ‘remind’ the Judicial Yuan of the importance of gender equality.”
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