The Judiciary Committee of the Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the draft of two amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure designed to ensure standards of evidence and limit the role of judges in criminal cases.
The amendments were initiated by New Party Legislator Chang Shih-liang (
The amendment to Article 161 empowers judges to demand that prosecutors acquire more evidence before indicting suspects and even to present all the existing evidence on which they intend to rely at trial.
If prosecutors fail to supply sufficient evidence before a deadline laid down by the court, judges can decline to indict and thereby dismiss the case.
Hong Chang-hong (
Article 163 eliminates the judges' role in investigations, and entitles them to judge the case only in accordance with the evidence provided by the prosecutors. It allows one exception in which judges may intervene in investigations -- when there is a possible conflict of interest on the part of the defendant.
The amendment gives plaintiffs and prosecutors the power to conduct further investigations and to request testimony from witnesses -- which used to be the responsibility of judges.
DPP Lawmaker Liu Chun-hsiung (劉俊雄), who voted against the proposal, said the new law may be unfair to victims and plaintiffs.
"If a judge thinks prosecutors or plaintiffs do not have sufficient evidence to prove a defendant guilty, they should just go ahead and dismiss the case," Liu said.
Taiwan Independence Party Legislator Lee Ching-hsiung (李慶雄) holds the opposite opinion.
"We can clarify the roles of judges and prosecutors with these new amendments to the law," he said. "With the new law, investigating and providing more evidence will become solely the prosecutors' job and so they will have to be more careful before they indict suspects.
"We will be able to protect innocent people from being indicted or convicted on weak or vague evidence," he said.
The two amendments will be submitted to a full session of the Legislative Yuan for a second review and final approval next week.
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