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.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS