Amendments to the Regulations of Audio Recording in Court and Their Use and Preservation (法庭錄音及其利用保存辦法) are aimed at protecting the rights of defendants, Judicial Yuan senior officials said.
The amendments ensure that video footage, audio recordings and written court transcripts of cases where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty or life imprisonment are stored permanently and that such material is made available to defendants on request, officials said.
Under the amendments such material is to come under the purview of the Archives Act (檔案法), Article 11 of which states: “Permanent records shall be transferred to the central archives authority-in-charge. The regulation governing such transfers shall be drafted by the central archives authority-in-charge and to be approved by the Executive Yuan.”
The amendments would enhance transparency of the judiciary system, improve the quality and efficacy of court proceedings, increase public trust in legal institutions, and also protect the rights of defendants and lawyers, officials said.
A senior judge, speaking on request of anonymity, said the new measures would allow more access to court audio and video recordings, because presiding judges in the past have mostly denied the requests of defendants’ legal teams to inspect this kind of material.
He said this led many people to believe that judges were trying to evade public scrutiny of court proceedings.
The judges’ refusal to allow access to recordings was due to a genuine concern that opening up court documents would lead to the leaking of personal information, he said.
The judge said he believed the potential for such event to occur would reduced following the amendments, as anyone who distributes audio or video recordings taken in court, or uses them in illicit ways, can be punished with a maximum of three months in jail, or a fine of NT$30,000.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS