Judicial Yuan President Lai Hau-min (賴浩敏) yesterday said the nation’s civilian judges are fully capable and ready to handle any military judicial cases that may be transferred to the civil judiciary after an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) was approved.
Lai’s remarks in the Yilan District Court yesterday morning came after an amendment to the Code of Court Martial Procedure was passed by the legislature last week, under which military prosecutions and trials during peacetime are due to be transferred to the jurisdiction of the civil judiciary.
Yilan District Court President Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩) said the district court plans to have male judges preside over military cases for the first year, allowing time for female judges to gain knowledge of the workings of the military.
In other developments, ex-convict and debt collector Tung Nien-tai (董念台) yesterday filed a lawsuit for “psychological abuse” against Chang You-hua (張友驊), a frequent guest on political talk shows, saying that Chang had made groundless accusations against military personnel allegedly involved in the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), adding that their families could not live with his alleged mental abuse.
Tung said a family member of a military serviceman indicted over the Hung case wrote to him, saying: “The family has been nervous every day because they do not know what fabricated accusations Chang would make on political talks shows at night.”
Tung did not say which family had made the complaint.
This was the third lawsuit filed by Tung in the space of a week.
He first filed a lawsuit against members of activist group Citizen 1985 and Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), the sister of Hung Chung-chiu, saying they forced the legislature to amend the Code of Court Martial Procedure and violated the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪條例).
Tung also accused Citizen 1985 of fraud, claiming that the group had illegally raised funds as an non-certified organization.
The group organized a mass rally on Aug. 3 at which an estimated 200,000 people protested against what they said was the military’s poor handling of the investigation into Hung Chung-chiu’s death.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
RSS