Former New Party legislator Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) yesterday questioned the integrity of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pick to head the Judicial Yuan.
On the sidelines of a legislative hearing to review Rai Hau-min’s (賴浩敏) suitability, Hsieh, who was not invited to speak at the hearing, told reporters outside the conference room that Rai allegedly attempted to interfere with the judiciary when he served as a defense lawyer for former Control Yuan member Derek Chen (陳金德) in the 1997 Taiwan Development Co insider trading case.
Accusations
Hsieh accused Rai of instigating an evaluation of Chen Ping-chang (陳炳彰), the presiding judge in the case, through the Taipei Bar Association during the trial.
The association later referred Chen Ping-chang to the High Court’s Judge Evaluation Committee and to the Control Yuan on the grounds that he did not respect defense lawyers and defendants and often changed court dates without any explanation, Hsieh said.
The Control Yuan later decided to impeach Chen Ping-chang while the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission reprimanded him, Hsieh said.
Hsieh questioned how Rai would be able to lead the Judicial Yuan in promoting judicial reform.
‘bad attitude’
Rai denied the allegations, saying that he simply joined the other eight defense lawyers in filing a petition against Chen Ping-chang at the association, adding that many lawyers knew the judge had a “bad attitude.”
Yesterdays hearing reviewed Rai and Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽), who was nominated for vice president of the Judicial Yuan. The legislature is scheduled to vote on the nominations on Friday.
During the hearing, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators vowed not to support the nominations.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) called the nomination a “failure,” saying that Rai has always supported whatever the ruling party wanted, while Su was too political.
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