The Control Yuan yesterday impeached Supreme Court Judge Hsiao Yang-kuei (蕭仰歸) and High Court Presiding Judge Kao Ming-che (高明哲) for allegedly lobbying other judges to rule favorably in a case involving one of the accused’s family members.
Control Yuan members Huang Wu-tzu (黃武次) and Lee Ful-dien(李復甸), who initiated the motion, said Hsiao and Kao “damaged the image of the country’s judiciary” and their behavior was in violation of the Civil Servants Work Act (公務人員服務法) and the Code of Practices governing judges’ code of conduct.
HIT AND RUN
The case in question involved Hsiao’s son, Hsiao Hsien-luen (蕭賢綸), who was accused of committing a hit and run driving offense in 2008.
The junior Hsiao was found guilty and sentenced to six months in prison and two years of probation by the Keelung District Court. The High Court changed the ruling on appeal to “not guilty.”
Lee said the senior Hsiao was found to have lobbied the judges hearing the cases at both the district and high court levels, and that Kao, an old friend of the senior Hsiao, also lobbied for a “not guilty” verdict.
HUMAN NATURE
“Although it was human nature that a father extended a helping hand to his son in trouble, it certainly was not something a father should do when he was a judge,” Lee said.
Following the Control Yuan’s decision, Hsiao and Kao will be disciplined by the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission. They had already been suspended from their posts before the Control Yuan acted yesterday.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
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
RSS