The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Criminal Compensation Act (刑事補償法), removing or changing phrasing of articles to promote the fair treatment of noncitizens.
Under the current wording of the act, only those with Republic of China citizenship can request compensation for being inappropriately detained, while foreigners must be from a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to do so.
The Judicial Yuan said the law should be updated to ensure that everyone would receive fair and reasonable treatment in Taiwan.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Under the amendments, the daily rate of compensation for being inappropriately detained would be NT$3,000 to NT$5,000.
The amendments also changed the wording regarding filing for a claim, which currently states that a claimant must seek compensation within two years of the dismissal, withdrawal or verdict in a case. The new wording states that they can seek compensation from the date of learning of the outcome of their case.
That change was made to uphold the rights of those traveling, detained, or who would not know or receive notification of the outcome of their ruling in a timely manner, the amendment says.
A person who is believed to have induced criminal suspicion to mislead investigators, gave false testimony, forged or hid evidence, or colluded with conspirators or witnesses to mislead an investigation would not be eligible for compensation under the changes.
The amendments would also increase criminal compensation rates to 1.5 times to double the fines paid by the claimant, with interest to be increased to 2 percent from 1 percent.
The Judicial Yuan must investigate, research and analyze reasons for erroneous verdicts in criminal cases to help restore public faith in the judicial system, the amendments add.
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has