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Justice ministry softens stance on sentencing

"This policy aims to economically and reasonably use judicial resources, effectively repressing crime and at the same time easing crowding in prisons."

Ministry of Justice white paper on planned reforms to Taiwan's penal system

Misdemeanor offenders may be punished by community service instead of prison in a new initiative by the Ministry of Justice to reduce the prison population, an official from the ministry said yesterday.

If the program comes into force, offenders who are sentenced up to one year in prison may instead be given non-custodial penalties such as community service, home detention, electronic monitoring, or intensive probation supervision.

These community-based measures have been adopted in many Western countries and are now being considered in Taiwan.

The justice ministry has recently been developing a criminal justice policy which combines "hard" and "soft" measures. Hard measures mean jailing felons for longer while soft measures aim to divert offenders in minor crimes from prison.

"This policy aims to economically and reasonably use judicial resources, effectively repressing crime and at the same time easing crowding in prisons," according to a justice ministry policy white paper published last year.

The paper contends that community-based measures would be more effective and help reintegrate minor offenders back into society.

By the end of this month, justice ministry departments will meet to make a first draft of the proposed program. A finished version will be submitted to the Executive Yuan in November, ministry officials said.

To help reduce custodial sentences, the use of probation and parole are also to be expanded.

In the case of suspended sentences -- for which a Judicial Yuan bill will raise the upper limit from two to three years -- increased supervision or probation will be necessary.

According to current criminal law, a person who is given a suspended sentence will not be be put under probationary supervision during the period of suspension of punishment.

The ministry is considering changing this with a draft law amendment to make it compulsory for some convicts receiving suspended sentences to be put on probation, which may include "intensive" probationary supervision and electronic monitoring.

The measures would be also applied to paroled offenders and perpetrators of minor crimes sentenced to community-based treatment instead of imprisonment.

Intensive probationary supervision would mean criminals with suspended sentences would have to report regularly to probation officers.

Compared with intensive probationary supervision, electronic monitoring demands an offender stay within a certain area -- usually his or her home. This measure would be applied to high-risk offenders, a senior probation officer in charging of drafting the program said.

An increase in the number of probation officers would be necessary for the successful implementation of the new measures, the officer said.

But what may be more of a problem, he said, is whether society will accept the concept of punishment within the community.

"There needs to be more communication and discussion before the policy is implemented," he said.
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