The Taiwan High Court yesterday said it was trying to dissuade a judge from resigning after criticism of a recent ruling that saw the sentence of former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) reduced from nine years in prison to seven months.
In a statement yesterday, which High Court judge Chen Heng-kuan (陳恆寬) released through the High Court, Judge Chen — one of three court members in Chen Che-nan’s case — said that as a court official, he should be responsible for the controversial verdict. He added he had tendered his resignation.
Chen Heng-kuan said in the statement that the most important foundation of the judiciary was the public’s trust.
He added that the latest ruling in Chen Che-nan’s case, in addition to the recent furor in which it is alleged that three Taiwan High Court judges took bribes in return for acquitting a former lawmaker of corruption charges, had all further impairing the public’s confidence in the nation’s judiciary.
On Tuesday, the High Court cited evidence that Chen Che-nan accepted NT$6 million (US$197,200) from businessman Liang Po-hsun (梁柏薰) in 2002 and promised in return to use his influence to settle two court cases involving Liang.
In both Chen Che-nan’s first and second trials, handled by the Taipei District Court and the Taiwan High Court, he was found guilty and given hefty sentences.
However, after Chen Che-nan won an appeal which led to the third trial on Tuesday, the ruling said because his post at the Presidential Office did not involve conducting judicial investigations, the money he took was unrelated to his work and hence he had committed fraud, not corruption.
Local media reported that in the Chen Che-nan case, presiding judge Tseng ter-shui (曾德水) was of the opinion that Chen-Che-nan committed fraud — a less serious crime compared with a corruption charge — and wanted to give him a lighter sentence, while Chen Heng-kuan and judge Tsui Ling-chi (崔玲琦) harbored a different opinion, with Chen Heng-kuan insisting that he believed Chen Che-nan was guilty of corruption and hence should be given a heavy sentence.
The High Court yesterday said Tsui had applied to leave Tseng’s court as a sign of protest at the ruling.
Meanwhile, Chen Heng-kuan, alleging that High Court judges enjoy too much power, said he hoped his resignation could lead to some reform in the High Court.
When asked for comment, Tseng yesterday said: “The ruling [of the Chen Che-nan case] was just.”
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS