Late last year, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Prison Act (監獄行刑法) and Detention Act (羈押法) — the former concerns convicted inmates and the latter defendants under detention — through all three readings. They were promulgated in January and are to be enacted on Wednesday next week. They would bring drastic changes to enhancing the human rights of prisoners in Taiwan.
There are seven new developments:
First, the amendments deal with an independent external inspection panel, requiring the panel to conduct inspections and submit reports on matters related to the operations of a detention center.
Second, the amended acts expressly stipulate that a detention center may not place a defendant in solitary confinement for more than 15 days.
Third, when a detention center uses some sort of protective measure, the amended acts stipulate a maximum amount of time. For example, the use of protective restraint may not exceed four hours each time; the placement in a protective cell may not exceed 24 hours each time; and the use of guard instruments may not exceed 48 hours each time.
Fourth, in the past, several forms of punishment in prisons were expressly stipulated. Yet, in practice, there were some other punishments lacking a legal basis, such as sending prisoners to a confinement room.
Such forms of punishment were supposed to be stipulated by enforcement rules. Now, the amended acts deal with punishments that were considered a violation of human rights in the past, such as suspension of an attorney meeting and outside activity.
Fifth, the Agency of Corrections has been in charge of healthcare in prisons, but the task was apparently not its area of expertise.
The amended acts stipulate that health authorities have a responsibility to help improve healthcare in prisons.
Sixth, the amended acts stipulate that a prison must set up an individual treatment plan for each inmate within three months on matters of personal and medical treatment. These aim to bolster the role of a prison regarding mild measures for inmates.
Last, but not the least, to comply with the aims of two judicial interpretations — Nos. 755 and 756 — the amended acts stipulate that prisoners and inmates have the right to judicial remedies, and submission of complaints against prisons and detention centers.
These expressly stipulate prisoners’ and inmates’ right to attorney meetings, and the confidentiality of legal correspondence, which means sending and receiving letters.
For example, the frequency and the time of an attorney meeting are no longer limited. Prison officials are required to only monitor such meetings without hearing what the parties are saying, and to only check letters without carefully reading them.
Nevertheless, implementation of the new rules faces challenges.
The issue of excess prison population is a serious concern in Taiwan. In 2018, the nation’s prison population was supposed to be about 57,000.
Yet, the real number was about 63,000, translating into an excess population of about 10 percent. The percentage dropped to 5.9 percent last year and 3 percent this year.
By the end of April, the number of drug abuse offenders was up to about 29,000, which accounts for almost half of the total prison population. So, the main question is how to reduce the number of drug abuse offenders.
The number of prison officials is also insufficient. For prison wardens, the ratio is 1:10.8, meaning one warden deals with about 10.8 inmates, which is much higher than the ratios in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
For prison counselors, the ratio is 1:153.5. Counselors are in charge of counseling, guiding and parole for inmates, and other administrative tasks. While it is a huge burden, it lacks stable human resources and long-term training.
There are doubts that relevant budgets will continue.
The amendments were promulgated in January and are to be enforced this month. Due to a lack of time to train personnel, there would be some backlash from junior officials.
The government should amend the Statute of Progressive Execution of Penalty (行刑累進處遇條例). It is a matter of how the nation can enhance the basic rights of prisoners.
The Judicial Reform Foundation is to supervise the mechanism of an independent external inspection panel. Yet, the non-governmental organization alone would not ensure a successful shift to the enactment of the amended acts; it ultimately requires the public to pay attention to the developments.
Huang Yu-zhe is a political science undergraduate at Soochow University and has been accepted to National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of Law and Interdisciplinary Studies. Lee Ming-ju is a lawyer.
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