The Judicial Yuan should submit to the legislature a new bill governing judges as soon as possible to ensure better regulation and restore the credibility of the battered judiciary, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker said on Sunday.
“The recent spate of corruption scandals involving judges has proved that self-discipline is not enough to ensure judicial rectitude,” KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said. “Strict legislation and more outside supervision are badly needed.”
Chiu said the Judicial Yuan has not come up with a new version since its previous bill on judges was rejected by the legislature.
“As the top supervisory body of courts and judges, the Judicial Yuan is obligated to present a new version of the judges bill for ratification by the legislature,” Chiu said, adding that the Judicial Yuan should stop dragging its feet on the issue.
Without a Judicial Yuan-drafted bill, the legislature can do nothing to respond to the public demand for stricter regulation of the judiciary, Chiu said.
Asked about an appeal by Taiwan High Court Judge Chen Heng-kuan (陳恆寬) for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to call a national meeting on judicial reform, Chiu said that what matters was action and mettle.
Chen, one of three judges who presided over the trial of former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) at the Taiwan High Court, resigned on Thursday to protest the lenient sentence handed down to Chen Che-nan. However, he said on Saturday he had changed his mind and withdrew his resignation.
“My conscience told me to stay on and continue the fight for judicial reform,” Chen Heng-kuan said, adding that he hoped Ma would call a national meeting on judicial reform to win back public trust in the judiciary.
However, Chiu said that holding such a meeting might only generate some media coverage, while achieving nothing substantive. He said that both the administrative and judicial branches should show resolve by decisive action rather than mere lip service.
Chiu said the problems in the judicial system were mainly the result of the judiciary's bureaucratic mentality, under which individual judges mind only their own business or even cover up each other's illicit or corrupt activities.
He said this kind of judicial culture had left conscientious and incorruptible judges busy and corrupt judges “rich and famous.”
Chiu said joint efforts from within and without the ranks of the judiciary were needed to stop this cycle of evil.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said he supported Chen Heng-kuan's call for a national conference to pool wisdom to map out a judicial reform package.
Saying judicial reform needed the collaboration of police, investigators, prosecutors, judges and lawyers, Lu called on Ma to play a leading role in integrating resources in all these sectors to promote reform.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS