The public has little confidence in the nation’s judicial system and believes that the judiciary is politically affected, a survey conducted by Academia Sinica showed, with more than 50 percent of respondents saying President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could influence court cases.
The survey, carried out by Academia Sinica political researcher Wu Chung-li (吳重禮), showed that 55 percent of respondents said they believed “Ma would interfere with judicial decisions,” while 38 percent said that he would not.
Of the respondents, 48.4 percent said the judicial system rules in favor of the pan-blue camp, while 11.9 percent said the pan-green camp is favored, Wu said.
On the issue of the 20-year sentence given to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party for several convictions on corruption charges, 33.4 percent said the sentence was too harsh, while 43.2 percent said it was too light.
Fifty percent of respondents said they have no faith in the judiciary, while 80 percent said they have no confidence in political parties, the survey showed.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said the public is under the impression that Ma has used his influence to sway the judiciary because of the president’s fierce pursuit of Chen, as well as his involvement in the “September strife.”
The September strife refers to an incident in 2013, in which Ma accused Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of undue influence based on information collected through wiretaps disclosed to Ma by then-prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘).
Kao said that although Huang was convicted of leaking classified information, he had the Ministry of Justice on his side during the litigation and escaped a potential impeachment by the Control Yuan.
He retired and claimed a full pension before the verdict was handed down, Kao said, adding that all the indicators suggested outside influences were at play.
Kao said that in dealing with a case in which independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) campaign office was wiretapped in the run-up to last year’s mayoral election, prosecutors did not prosecute despite detaining some of the people involved, which created the impression that the judiciary is biased toward the pan-blue camp, which was pitted against Ko in the election.
Aletheia University law professor Wu Ching-chin (吳景欽) said Ma is able to interfere in the judiciary because the roles of prosecutor-general, the minister of justice and positions in the Council of Grand Justices are filled by presidential appointment.
Wu said that in 2010, the Taipei District Court ruled Chen was not guilty of graft in connection with a financial merger, but the Supreme Court in 2012 sentenced Chen to a 10-year jail term after Ma said: “The judiciary cannot back away from the public’s expectations.”
Wu said prosecutors have not yet taken action regarding allegations implicating Ma in incidents concerning the construction of the Taipei Dome and MeHAS City projects because “the judiciary is sizing up the situation.”
“Judicial independence cannot be achieved if the judiciary has to cater to the interests of those in power,” Wu said.
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