Legislators accused judges across the nation of having become rubberstamps for the judiciary after the Judicial Yuan provided data on Thursday showing that while courts of all levels have approved of as many as 500,000 phone wiretaps since 2007, only 208 received enquiries by judges for judiciary oversight.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) said that after the judges were given the power to approve surveillance warrant applications, they had not closely monitored the surveillance cases they approved.
An amendment to the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法) in 2007 stipulated that judges across all levels of courts have the authority to approve surveillance warrants.
Wu said that most surveillance cases were applied for under a larger case, pointing to the recent case concerning the Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office as an example, adding that if the Taipei District Court had monitored surveillance cases it approved, it would have known of the SID’s alleged illegal wiretapping of the legislature.
Wu was referring to the alleged abuse of surveillance by the SID by wiretapping Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and the Legislative Yuan switchboard.
Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) has said the wiretapping operation for Ker, part of an investigation into a bribery case in which Ker was alleged to have been involved, was approved by a court for the period from May 16 to Sept. 9.
During the wiretap, the SID said it overheard a conversation Ker had with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and said on Sept. 6 that Ker asked Wang to lobby on his behalf to then-justice minister Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) not to appeal Ker’s not-guilty verdicts in a breach of trust case.
On Sept. 28, Ker told a press conference that among the numbers listed by the court in a notice informing him that the wiretapping of his lines had been discontinued following his acquittal in a breach of trust case was the Legislative Yuan’s switchboard number 0972-630-235.
Huang later confirmed that the SID had tapped the switchboard of the Legislative Yuan, mistaking it for the cellphone number of an aide to Ker.
According to the data provided by the Judicial Yuan, the rate of applying for and receiving approval for surveillance has increased from 2007 up to the end of August this year, with applications for surveillance in a total of 177,000 legal cases and an approval rate of 83 percent.
The data also showed that the applications covered 500,000 phones, meaning an average of 3.12 phones were placed under surveillance per investigation, and each line was bugged for an average of 76 days.
While the individual placed under surveillance has the right by law to be informed of the surveillance, the subjects of more than 2,500 cases were not informed, including 2,000 cases where this was due to court order and 478 cases due to negligence.
Of the 208 times a judge had visited the prosecutors’ office to oversee surveillance, the New Taipei City (新北市) District Court came in highest with 36 times and the Greater Kaohsiung District Court second with 31 times.
DPP Legislator You Mei-nu (尤美女) cited Germany as an example and said that while it had more than four times the total population of Taiwan, the rate at which its citizens were placed under surveillance was far lower than Taiwan.
You further proposed to modify our surveillance system with that of the Germans, which would give surveillance applications to judges specializing in surveillance warrant applications.
Additional reporting by CNA
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all