Taiwan moved one step closer to the abolition of capital punishment yesterday after Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) proposed that the death penalty be gradually phased out and replaced by life imprisonment without parole.
The Ministry of Justice will propose the amendment to the Criminal Code (刑法) introducing the new penalty as part of a broader package including educational and legal aid to victims of violent crime within one year, Tseng said in the legislature.
However, the minister also said that the first execution of one of the 44 inmates currently on death row would most likely take place before the end of the year after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators expressed concern over the delay.
The government has not carried out a death sentence since 2005.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that a number of concerns have been raised as to whether death penalty inmates might be pardoned by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during the nation’s centennial celebrations next year.
Meanwhile, KMT lawmakers also called on the ministry to consider allowing life imprisonment without parole and capital punishment to co-exist, giving judges an additional sentencing choice.
Recent opinion polls show that seven out of 10 Taiwanese are opposed to the abolition of the death penalty, an issue that Tseng promised to address, saying that he was not opposed to holding a referendum on the subject.
Despite taking steps toward abolition, the ministry has so far declined to confirm whether it would also propose revisions to the Criminal Code such as removing capital punishment entirely.
Speaking on the issue, Tseng said that there was no timetable, adding that the ministry “could not move” until some sort of public consensus is reached.
Meanwhile, during the legislative hearing, Tseng also proposed that the ministry establish a new type of prison facility designed specifically to house those sentenced to life without parole, citing differences in the management of different types of inmates and the need to prevent prison overcrowding.
“Our position is that we need to deal with current cases according to what already exists in the law books. However, it remains our goal to gradually reduce the use of capital punishment through the use of substitute sentencing,” Tseng said.
A panel held by the ministry late last month came to the conclusion that several laws, including those protecting crime victims and beefing up public security, would have to be passed before Taiwan moves to give up capital punishment.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS