President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he was happy to see the legislature decide to review the draft bill of the judges’ act.
Ma said he wanted to thank former Judicial Yuan president Lai In-jaw (賴英照), who he said had made a tremendous amount of effort to help push the Speedy Criminal Trials Act (刑事妥速審判法) during his tenure.
The act passed the legislature in April.
Following the acquittal of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), on bribery charges on Friday last week — which irked many KMT supporters — the KMT--controlled legislature decided on Monday to push forward the review of the judges’ act.
‘NEVER EASY’
“I know the legislation process has caused a lot of controversy, but if we don’t take this step, we will encounter more difficulties in the future,” he said. “Judicial reform has never been easy.”
As the government turns its focus to the judges’ act, Ma said he was glad to see the legislature would soon begin preliminary review of the draft bill thanks in part to Lai’s dedication and hard work over the past two years and nine months in office.
Ma made the remarks after conferring medals on Lai and former Judicial Yuan vice president Hsieh Tsai-chuan (謝在全) to thank them for their service.
LONG WAY TO GO
Lai and Hsieh resigned in the midst of a corruption scandal involving three Taiwan High Court judges and one prosecutor suspected of taking bribes from a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
Saying that the country’s judicial reform began a long time ago and that there is still a long way to go, Ma added that he believed new Judicial Yuan President Rai Hau-min (賴浩敏) and his deputy Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) would continue the effort and exert themselves to reach the goal.
The legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee will begin the preliminary hearing tomorrow.
The Taipei District Court said in its verdict in the bribery scandal that it found no -evidence that Chen took NT$600 million (US$20 million) in exchange for promises not to block separate mergers initiated by Cathay -Financial Holdings and Yuanta Financial Holding.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel in response said it would appeal the verdict to the Taiwan High Court.
On Sunday at an election event in Tainan County, Ma, while -saying it was “inconvenient” for him to comment on Chen’s ongoing case, said that the judiciary must not isolate itself from the outside world or deviate from public expectations.
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