The Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice should adopt an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), which currently allows prosecutors to place restrictions on an accused’s place of residence without a court order, to better safeguard people’s constitutional right to freedom of migration, Control Yuan members said yesterday.
The Control Yuan tabled an investigation report promulgated by Control Yuan members Lee Ful-dien (李復甸) and Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬), in which the pair urged Taiwan’s judicial agencies to include an amendment to mandate that a residence restriction can only be ordered after being permitted by a court.
According to Article 228 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a public prosecutor may impose upon examination a limitation on an accused’s residence if they comply with a summons, voluntarily surrender or accept such a limit of their own free will. Residence limitation is also the main legal basis for the placement of restrictions of exit on a defendant.
“Although the placement of residence restriction has its legal necessity, it is still tantamount to other lawful actions such as search, arrest and detention, as all are forms of restricting people’s freedom,” Lee said.
While the execution of search, arrest and detention orders all need a court’s permission, the law must not empower public prosecutors or other administrative officers to order a placement of residence restriction at will, Lee added.
Citing Article 10 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedoms of residence and change of residence, Lee said granting prosecutors the right to limit people’s residence constituted a violation of the Constitution.
In this regard, the Judicial Yuan and the ministry must propose an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Lee said, so as to abide by the Constitution and to fulfill Taiwan’s obligations under the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Pointing to defendants under residence restrictions who still suffer from such limitations even after being acquitted in a first trial, Lee said such actions also violated the Constitution and urged relevant agencies to write an amendment to the law to reflect this.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, staff writer
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,