A coalition of civic groups yesterday criticized the government’s judicial reform as ineffective, saying that many changes proposed by the National Congress on Judicial Reform a year ago have barely been implemented.
Since the congress was convened on the orders of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in August last year, the government has begun working on a number of draft bills and amendments based on its suggestions, yet measures that do not require any new laws remain far from being implemented, Judicial Reform Foundation (JRF) chairman Lin Yung-sung (林永頌) told a news conference in Taipei.
The inefficiency of the reform is due to opposition from within the judicial system, Lin said.
“Apparently, most people within the system are against reform and the heads of agencies have decided to side with the bureaucrats, rather than the people,” he said.
The JRF and a dozen other civic groups, including the Garden of Hope Foundation (GHF), Taiwan Association for Human Rights and the Red Cross, said that the government for has disregarded many of the National Congress’ resolutions.
For example, the National Police Agency has not established committees on police education and performance evaluation, as suggested by the congress, they said, adding that it has only been willing to hold consultations nature on the issue.
The committees had been recommended as part of a solution to the existing performance evaluation system, which is not only ineffective, but leads to police officers being overworked, they said.
Meanwhile, law enforcement has continued to violate the principle of keeping investigations confidential, ignoring the congress’ advice, they said.
Last month, pictures, police footage and personal information of a 10-year-old suspect in an alleged fraud case were published by a number of media after being leaked by police, they said.
When the JRF reported the leak to the National Police Agency, it said that the police station did not find any evidence of misconduct by its officers, the groups added.
The government has adopted a number of policies suggested by the congress, but it needs to ensure that they are implemented, they said.
For example, the Judicial Yuan in October last year established a committee to protect children’s rights and gender equality based on a congress resolution, but whether it will help depends on how the committee will be run, they said.
Many judges and prosecutors still lack gender awareness and do not understand the complexity of sexual assault, GHF chief executive Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said.
“A prosecutor asked a female migrant worker who had been sexually assaulted why she did not bite the man’s genitals and why she did not immediately call for help,” Chi said. “He was unable to comprehend the vulnerable situation that she was in — the language barrier, her doubts about the reliability of our judicial system and that she lived in her employer’s house.”
More education on such issues is urgently needed for judges and prosecutors, she added.
“If the government was a manufacturer, what it is doing at the moment would be equivalent to disregarding quality control and turning a blind eye to customer complaints,” Lin said.
To regain the public’s trust, the government must follow through on judicial reform, he said.
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS