More than 10 years ago, a group of German academics visited the Taipei District Court and were aghast to see how young its judges were.
One professor reportedly blurted out: “My god, how come your judges are so young?”
The accompanying Taiwanese professors, thinking on their feet, replied that as universities’ law departments are prospective students’ top choices, and only about 1 percent qualify for the Special Examination for Judges and Prosecutors, those who make the grade are usually young and talented.
Astounded, the German visitors said that in their country, regardless of whether a judge had exceptional academic credentials, they would not preside over an equivalent court alone, which would be headed by a panel of three judges.
The draft regulations on the appointment of judicial personnel and qualifications (法律專業人員資格及任用條例), which is to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review, states that all prospective judicial personnel, including judges, prosecutors, attorneys and legal officers, must take the same bar exam — as opposed to position-dependent exams — and then undertake a year of legal practice.
After obtaining their attorney’s license, they can apply to become judges, prosecutors or legal officers.
It can be expected that positions with higher salaries and social status, such as judges, would remain the most sought-after choices.
As for whether the amendment can enhance the quality of justice, there might not be much difference, unless the judicial system is reformed.
To illustrate the point, look at Taiwan’s medical education: Medical students need to complete six years of study, followed by two years of residency and three to six years of specialized training to become a doctor.
That is just more than 10 years of training in total, and students are usually in their 30s when they complete their training.
The system was introduced to train doctors during the Japanese colonial period, and inherited a legacy of rigorous medical training established during Japan’s Meiji Restoration period.
As attending medical school is the dream of many Taiwanese, those who are accepted are usually remarkably gifted. Combined with a strict and well-organized training program, these factors have enabled Taiwan to achieve a high status in the global medical arena.
In contrast, judicial training in Taiwan leaves much to be desired.
After passing the bar exam, an ordinary citizen can begin practicing as an attorney after just six months of training. To become a judge, an ordinary citizen can either pass the Judges Qualification Exam and receive two years of training, or be appointed and transferred to the position of judge after practicing as attorney, prosecutor, full-time professor or public defender.
Appointees and those qualified through examination practice as trainee judges for five years and one additional year as a judge-on-probation.
However, from the third year, trainee judges can start presiding independently over select civil and criminal cases, such as civil and criminal cases under summary proceedings, civil small-claim proceedings, criminal cases under summary trial proceedings, burglary cases and cases with offenses with stipulated sentences of three years or less in district courts.
Under the current system, a 30-year-old judge might preside over a tough case that could be as complicated and challenging as a hard-to-treat disease.
It is hardly surprising that members of the public do not feel secure when placing their fates in the hands of a 30-year-old.
Going to trial might not be comparable to entering an operating theater, but the significance of the verdict is no less important. There is a big contrast between the coordinated and punctilious training of doctors, and the flawed and haphazard training of judges.
The legal training of judges has never required them to pay a visit to a construction site, to watch a doctor perform surgery or to observe a traffic accident investigation.
There is still a lot of professional knowledge and skills that judicial personnel remain ignorant of, including land administration, household registration, stock markets and insurance, to name just a few.
This is knowledge that cannot be acquired just by hitting the books.
In Japan, trainee judges practice for a decade before they can start adjudicating independently, while in Germany, district courts have three-judge panels.
In contrast, the training of judges in Taiwan is not up to scratch.
It is high time that the government works on judicial reform, because otherwise it will be but an empty slogan, passed down from one administration to the next.
Chuang Sheng-rong is a lawyer.
Translated by Rita Wang
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