Preventing defendants from fleeing the country has become a headache for the judiciary.
Former Global Funeral Service Corp president Chu Guo-rong (朱國榮) fled Taiwan after jumping bail of NT$517 million (US$15.9 million) while awaiting a Supreme Court ruling in September last year. The size of the bail did not stop him from fleeing.
Detention has become a more preferable way to prevent defendants from escaping. However, to uphold the principle of presumption of innocence and avoid being accused of forcing detainees to confess under duress, detention should be the last resort. Using electronic monitoring equipment has become one way of stopping defendants from fleeing.
To plug the loopholes, the Legislative Yuan in June 2019 amended the Code of Criminal Procedure. Apart from adding restrictions on departing the nation, Article 116-2 on the suspension of detention was also amended.
The article states that in granting the suspension of detention, the court may, after considering the protection of human rights and public interests, and deeming it necessary, order the defendant to report to the designated authority periodically.
The court may also order the defendant to hand over their passports and travel documents; not to leave a certain area without the permission of the court or prosecutor; and to accept appropriate monitoring by technical equipment, it says
These means, which are intended to replace detention, could be applied concurrently and are also applicable when the judge orders that the accused be released on bail, or to the custody of another, or with a limitation on their residence if detention is deemed unnecessary.
In August 2020, the Judicial Yuan and the Executive Yuan drew up regulations governing electronic monitoring for defendants in criminal cases under probation.
In March 2022, the High Prosecutors’ Office set up the Electronic Monitoring Center, which is responsible for electronic monitoring.
In late 2019, former Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn skipped bail and escaped to Lebanon while awaiting trial on charges of financial misconduct. Even though the court set bail at ￥1.5 billion (US$10 million), limited his residence and ordered him to hand over his passports, he still managed to be smuggled out of Japan in a container on a private jet.
Last year, Japan amended its Code of Criminal Procedure, adding an article stipulating the use of electronic monitoring equipment could be used for defendants facing criminal charges. It is to be implemented by 2028.
Taiwan appears to be a few steps ahead of Japan in enacting legislation on electronic monitoring. Since the law was amended, about NT$100 million has been spent to set up an electronic monitoring system, with about 50 criminal defendants being monitored. The cost-benefit ratio seems to be disproportional.
Apart from what it could mean in terms of human rights when a defendant’s GPS position is monitored around the clock, the decision is for the judiciary to make.
Electronic monitoring does not mean it does not involve human resources. Prosecutors, judges and police have to be aware of whether defendants leave certain areas without permission. This puts huge pressure on the system.
How to make use of new technology, such as artificial intelligence, to alleviate the burden on the judiciary is an important issue worth discussing.
Wu Ching-chin is a professor at Aletheia University’s Department of Law and director of the university’s Criminal Law Research Center.
Translated by Fion Khan
Chinese state-owned companies COSCO Shipping Corporation and China Merchants have a 30 percent stake in Kaohsiung Port’s Kao Ming Container Terminal (Terminal No. 6) and COSCO leases Berths 65 and 66. It is extremely dangerous to allow Chinese companies or state-owned companies to operate critical infrastructure. Deterrence theorists are familiar with the concepts of deterrence “by punishment” and “by denial.” Deterrence by punishment threatens an aggressor with prohibitive costs (like retaliation or sanctions) that outweigh the benefits of their action, while deterrence by denial aims to make an attack so difficult that it becomes pointless. Elbridge Colby, currently serving as the Under
Apart from the first arms sales approval for Taiwan since US President Donald Trump took office, last month also witnessed another milestone for Taiwan-US relations. Trump signed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act into law on Tuesday. Its passing without objection in the US Senate underscores how bipartisan US support for Taiwan has evolved. The new law would further help normalize exchanges between Taiwanese and US government officials. We have already seen a flurry of visits to Washington earlier this summer, not only with Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), but also delegations led by National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu
Ho Ying-lu (何鷹鷺), a Chinese spouse who was a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee, on Wednesday last week resigned from the KMT, accusing the party of failing to clarify its “one China” policy. In a video released in October, Ho, wearing a T-shirt featuring a portrait of Mao Zedong (毛澤東), said she hoped that Taiwan would “soon return to the embrace of the motherland” and “quickly unify — that is my purpose and my responsibility.” The KMT’s Disciplinary Committee on Nov. 19 announced that Ho had been suspended from her position on the committee, although she was
Two mayors have invited Japanese pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki to perform in their cities after her Shanghai concert was abruptly canceled on Saturday last week, a decision widely interpreted as fallout from the latest political spat between Japan and China. Organizers in Shanghai pulled Hamasaki’s show at the last minute, citing force majeure, a justification that convinced few. The cancelation came shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi remarked that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a military response from Tokyo — comments that angered Beijing and triggered a series of retaliatory moves. Hamasaki received an immediate show of support from
RSS