Shilin District Court Judge Hung Ying-hua (洪英花), who has been critical of procedural aspects of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) corruption trial, yesterday expressed regret over President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) reported dismissal of her criticism as a violation of legal ethics.
Hung was responding to media reports that quoted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) relaying comments Ma had reportedly made during a dinner with KMT lawmakers on Wednesday night.
“I hope President Ma can clarify [what he said],” Hung said. “If President Ma does not issue a clarification, I will reserve my right to pursue legal action.”
In December, a panel of judges ordered that Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) be replaced by Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) in the corruption and money laundering trial of the former president and 12 co-defendants. The switch elicited speculation that the decision was procedurally flawed and politically motivated.
In articles published in local media, Hung has said that the switching of judges was illegal, rendering the guilty verdicts Tsai handed down on Friday invalid.
Some KMT lawmakers have described Hung’s comments and criticism of the Chen case as “audacious.”
In response to Hung’s criticism, the Judicial Yuan said yesterday that judges should be careful what they say.
Minister of Justice Wang Ching‑feng (王清峰) said she respected Hung’s right to freedom of speech, but that it was up to the Judicial Yuan to decide whether her outspokenness was appropriate.
Asked for comment, Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) did not give a direct answer.
However, Hsieh said that according to the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, which all judges in the country must adhere to, a judge should have high moral standards, be prudent in speech and action, and exercise self-control and integrity.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
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