In many countries, Lady Justice, a blindfolded goddess brandishing a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other, symbolizes the impartiality of justice that grants fair trials and metes out due punishment to wrongdoers. But in Taiwan, Lady Justice appears to have her eyes wide open on the accused, with others pressing the sword against her neck.
State Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (
Prosecutors are legally responsible for presenting cases against suspects on behalf of the state. However, on Thursday, Ma filed a lawsuit against the prosecutors involved in his special allowance fund trials, accusing them of abuse of authority. It could not be more ironic that the prosecutors have become defendants in the course of their duty, and the plaintiff is their former supervisor as justice minister.
In Taiwan's judicial system, prosecutors are duty bound to indict suspects, whereas judges are responsible for determining whether an accusation stands. If the judge does not agree with the prosecutor's accusations or evidence, a verdict of "not guilty" is rendered. If prosecutors are found to have used improper means to acquire evidence, the judge can declare a mistrial. The Ministry of Justice has administrative punishment mechanisms that deal with prosecutors suspected of misconduct through the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries (
Ma should be very familiar with the judicial system, but he chose a most unusual response by filing a lawsuit against his prosecutors. If every defendant followed suit and sued their prosecutors, it would be a terrible legal disaster. No wonder the prosecutors feel that Ma is making an example of them in order to discourage an appeal or further investigations into the eight pending cases.
Ma is a doctor of law and former minister of justice: He should have a full understanding of the operations and regulations of the legal system and is partly responsible for its present form. If Ma believes that the prosecutors were too Draconian, the defendant's and the prosecution's resources and status were inequitable, or that there was room for improvement, he can push for judicial reform if he is elected president -- rather than press the sword against Lady Justice's neck and force legality to heel.
Ma is perhaps unused to being a defendant, as this is his first time. In comparison, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫 ) and former Presidential Office secretary-general Mark Chen (
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