Taiwan plans to reinstate military judges to hear Chinese espionage cases and other offenses involving Taiwanese service members, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
There would be a review and legal amendments “to reinstate the military trial system,” he told reporters after a national security meeting.
“Military judges will return to the front line,” Lai said.
Photo: CNA
Military judges would work “alongside prosecutorial and judicial agencies to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel accused of treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty, insubordination and other military offenses,” he said.
The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply, with retired and serving members of the military the main targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, official figures show.
The National Security Bureau previously said that 64 people were prosecuted for Chinese espionage last year, compared with 48 in 2023 and 10 in 2022.
Civil courts have received more than 300 new military cases annually over the past three years, Judicial Yuan data showed.
Taiwan disbanded the military court system after the death of a young corporal in 2013.
Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) died of heatstroke on July 4, 2013, just three days before the end of his compulsory year-long military service.
The changes would apply to crimes committed by serving members of the military during peacetime.
They would have to be approved by the opposition-controlled legislature, said Ryan Chen (陳彥?), a lawyer and executive committee member of the Judicial Reform Foundation.
Previous concerns about the military trial system included the lack of independence of judges and prosecutors, and transparency of the judicial process, the National Human Rights Museum says on its Web site.
Former New Power Party legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), who is the sister of the late conscript, expressed concern about the potential for abuse.
“The Code of Court Martial Procedure [軍事審判法] was revised to end the harmful influence of military trials during the authoritarian period,” she said. “Now that President Lai wants to conditionally restart [military trials] against ‘foreign hostile forces,’ the supporting measures must be sufficient.”
Lai defended the reinstatement of military judges and other measures to counter Chinese infiltration, citing cases of Taiwanese individuals forming “treasonous organizations to aid China’s armed forces buildup” within Taiwan.
“China has used democratic Taiwan’s freedom and diverse openness to absorb gangsters, media personnel, commentators, political parties, and even active and retired military and police personnel to carry out activities such as division, destruction and subversion amongst us,” Lai said.
“We have no choice but to take more proactive actions,” he added.
At a separate news conference yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense acknowledged military courts’ checkered history and vowed to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure due process is upheld.
Officers who commit military-related offenses would be tried in military courts, while those accused of general criminal offenses would fall under the jurisdiction of civilian courts, the ministry said.
Active-duty military officers who commit offenses listed in Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), such as offenses against allegiance to the nation, would face military trials, while crimes listed in Part 3 of the code would be handled by the judiciary, the ministry said.
The ministry also said it would establish military courts and prosecutors’ offices in appropriate regions in accordance with the Organization Act of the Ministry of National Defense (國防部組織法).
Organizational acts would be written to regulate the new authorities and uphold their independence, it added.
It also vowed to create a personnel management act to regulate the appointments, dismissals, promotions, transfers and evaluations of military judges based on the Judges Act (法官法) to ensure fairness and independence.
Prospective military judges should have military experience, as the cases they handle would revolve around military affairs, it added.
The ministry is to comprehensively examine and amend the Military Trial Act (軍事審判法) in accordance with the principle of fair trials and legitimate legal procedures, while also ensuring human rights, upholding military discipline and safeguarding national security, it said.
The armed forces had made various attempts to train military judges to also serve as prosecutors to ensure tribunals could function during wartime, but these efforts had limited success, the ministry said.
A comprehensive internal review suggested that functioning military tribunals must be maintained during peacetime to ensure they retain the capability to enforce military discipline and protect human rights at war, it added.
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