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.”
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