Kao also criticized the Witness Protection Act (證人保護法), whose spirit he said was to ensure lighter sentences for those who confess.
He said he was not against reducing or exempting the sentences of witnesses if they cooperated, but the system was flawed because a witness was likely to exaggerate the facts in order to gain a better deal.
The Council of Grand Justices has accepted a request to interpret the constitutionality of the transfer of Chen’s case, and Kao urged the council to deal with the issue in a speedy manner.
Politics could be playing a role in the council’s delayed decision because some grand justices do not want to be labeled as Chen supporters by upholding the constitutional challenge to the transfer of judges.
Hung was entitled to speak out because her criticism was aimed at procedural aspects rather than the verdict itself, Kao said.
The judge, however, might want to take a lower-key approach by expressing herself through internal channels, he said, but it was also debatable whether Ma should have denounced Hung for violating legal ethnics.
To restore confidence in the judicial system, the legal system must be overhauled to ensure fairness in the judicial process, Kao said.
“Without fairness, the verdict will be questionable,” he said.
He also proposed putting civilians on the judges panel to decide a case.
To guarantee the quality of professional judges, he said, a law must be enacted to weed out inferior judges.
Former Judicial Yuan vice president Cheng Chung-mo (城仲模) said the modern concept of justice had been progressing and changing for more than a century, but the results in Taiwan were unsatisfactory.
Apart from rebuilding the system, Cheng said the judicial education and training programs must be revamped as well.
A law school graduate can become a judge at age 24, Cheng said.
“Some of them probably haven’t even been in love. How do you expect them to judge a murder or insider trading case?” he said. “The court panel handling a former president’s case should be formed by judges of a higher caliber and better credentials.”
Cheng, a former grand justice, said the composition of the Council of Grand Justices might not be the major factor in its delayed interpretation of constitutional questions concerning Chen’s case, but it was a significant one.
“No matter who nominated them, they must realize that their responsibility is to be fair, determine the truth and facilitate justice — not to serve the interest of the president who nominated them,” he said.
If the council had upheld the constitutional challenge, he said, it would invalidate Chen’s trial.
While Chen seemed optimistic, Cheng said he was afraid history would repeat itself if particular judges were again assigned to handle Chen’s case.
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