The Examination Yuan yesterday said that it would soon complete its review of planned amendments to the Judges Act (法官法), pending final approval by the Executive Yuan.
The announcement came one day after Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said he was dissatisfied with the progress on judicial reform during a question-and-answer session with New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Examination Yuan Secretary-General Lee Jih-shyuan (李繼玄) said that the amendments drafted by the Judicial Yuan are expected to be approved during an internal meeting on Thursday, after which they would be sent back to the Executive Yuan for final approval.
Photo: Huang Pang-ping, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan would then deliver the amendments to the legislature, he said.
Highlights of the draft amendments include hiring third-party members to sit on the Judicial Evaluation Committee, lengthening the evaluation period for judges and allowing participants other than judges to have a say in collegiate courts.
The Judicial Yuan’s original draft proposed that vacancies in the Supreme Administrative Court and Supreme Court be filled by special appointment, but that appointees be granted the same legal status as career judges.
However, the Examination Yuan said that the proposal muddled the difference between appointees and career judges in the act, which would result in incongruities after it was enacted.
Examination Yuan members also said that appointees — who could be a professor or a lawyer who has not passed the civil service exam — should not enjoy the same retirement benefits as career judges.
It would be unfair to career judges who have earned the title of chief justice based on the current act, they added.
The Examination Yuan rejected the proposal of filling vacancies by political appointment, as judges are supposed to be nonpartisan and impartial.
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