Recently, the Legislative Yuan's Judiciary Committee asked Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) and prosecutors-general at various levels to appear before the committee and report on a number of highly political criminal cases, including the Kaohsiung City Council vote-buying case and the Chunghsing Bills Finance scandal.
Since March 10, the committee has held 14 meetings, six of which were called to hear reports on individual cases. In addition to the above-mentioned scandals, the committee also wanted to know about the Lafayette kickbacks scandal, the National Security Bureau's secret account scandal and allegations that former first lady Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠) brought a massive amount of US dollars with her to the US shortly after the 2000 presidential election.
Why is the Judiciary Committee so keen to know about cases under investigation?
The curiosity of the committee members is euphemistically called "supervision." In fact, everyone knows that these legislators are using the committee as a weapon to threaten prosecutors over individual cases and to attack their political adversaries. The request for a report on the former first lady was obviously aimed at former president Lee Teng-hui (
Some legislators on the committee are even demanding that trial prosecutors go to the legislature to give reports and answer questions. They try to instruct the prosecutors whom they may and may not prosecute. Such blatant interference has triggered a strictly-worded response from the justice minister, in which he clarified the constitutional obligation of prosecutors not to report to other branches of the government while investigating a case. He castigated the lawmakers for overreaching their power and trampling on the judiciary.
Chen deserves praise for safeguarding judicial independence in the face of pressure from lawmakers.
The Constitution endows prosecutors with the powers of independent investigation. Non-disclosure of details about cases under investigation is in accordance with the law and is aimed at preventing outside interference.
While some of the legislators serving on the committee have legal backgrounds and are keen to pursue judicial reforms, many others have criminal records and are using their positions to seek extra protection. Some use their interpellation and budget review powers to try to pressure the judiciary over individual cases, or to attack their political opponents. Such sordid motives are at the root of the chaos in the committee.
As the prosecutorial system is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, which is part of the executive branch, it is naturally subject to monitoring by the legislative branch. However, the legislature is empowered only to monitor the administrative aspects of the prosecutorial system. Investigations are not something into which the lawmakers can poke their noses.
The committee's pressuring of prosecutors is nothing short of an encroachment on jurisdiction of the judicial branch.
Whatever judicial independence we have now has taken the people of Taiwan many years of blood and toil to build. Yet all this work can be ruined overnight by meddling politicians who think nothing of trampling the rule of law.
The members of the Judiciary Committee should understand their proper role and stop trying to run the courts. And they should stop treading on our right to a fair and just legal system
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