The Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, which has been in the eye of a recent political storm, should be abolished because of its inherent illegitimacy and unconstitutionality, as well as the design of the special prosecutors system, legal experts said yesterday in Taipei.
“Let me say this: Taiwan would not become a worse place to live without the SID, but it will become more chaotic if the division is kept,” lawyer Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍) told a forum organized by Taiwan Forever Association to discuss the increasing calls to scrap the division.
The SID has failed to accomplish its mission of probing corruption cases involving officials at minister-level or higher since 2008, with the bribery case involving former Executive Yuan deputy secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) — which was investigated after media broke the story — the only exception, Cheng said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The division instead focuses on prosecuting cases involving former officials of the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, including former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), with selective investigation a prevalent practice, he added.
There have been growing cries for eliminating the SID, which has been embroiled in controversies related to its wiretapping of the legislature, not only because it malfunctions and infringes on the Constitution, but also because it has become a tool for politicians to pursue their political agendas, the lawyer said.
Hsu Hui-feng (許惠峰), a professor of law at the Chinese Culture University, said the division was doomed to fail because of systemic flaws.
“I would say that the SID has become an agency everyone loves to hate not because the prosecutors in the division are incompetent, but because of the design of the prosecutorial system and a lack of courage and justice among prosecutors,” Hsu said.
Since the prosecutor-general — who is appointed by the president — is authorized to designate all the SID’s prosecutors, it is inevitable that the division acquires a political nature, he said, adding that this system gives the president and the majority party influence over the SID.
Another serious flaw of the division is that, unlike local prosecutors’ offices — which can be supervised by the High Prosecutors’ Office — no institution is able to monitor the division, Hsu said.
That explained why the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) did not favor removing Article 63-1 from the Organic Act of Court Organization (法院組織法), which stipulates the SID’s establishment and mission, DPP Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) said.
A Legislative Yuan resolution on Sept. 25 demanded that the SID stop working and transfer its ongoing cases to local prosecutors’ offices, but the division has refused, saying that the resolution is not legally binding.
High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lu Ting-wang (呂丁旺) said it was almost certain that the SID would abuse its authority because of the power concentrated in it, as well as the lack of checks and balances to keep it under control.
However, Lu said that has no one to blame but itself because the division was established in 2007 under the then-DPP government.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS