Wed, Aug 21, 2002 page2

• Judge defends writing decision in literary style

  • By Lin Mei-chun / STAFF REPORTER
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  A judge in Yunlin county has caused controversy in legal circles by handing down a judgment written in literary language.

  Lin Hui-huang (林輝煌), a Yunlin District Court judge, ordered 43-year-old defendant Liu Teng-ho (劉登河) to pay a NT$300 fine for stealing NT$100-worth of metal wire from a paper company in January.

  In the judgment, Lin wrote: "I looked at the defendant with compassion. I know for him to survive in society, he needs to try harder and struggle much more than we do.

  "I am convinced that without this extreme pressure, he would choose to go on with his life with pride ? May God have mercy on the humble, so as to allow them to survive on this earth. The prosecutor has a kind heart and feels for the small and insignificant individual."

  The judgment, however, has triggered heated discussion on the Internet since Lin wrote it on July 19.

  While supporters of the statement praised the lyrical style as a way to challenge the conventionally stiff language used for verdicts, which is often incomprehensible to the public, others said the writing included excessive emotional description, which violated the fundamental principle that every word used in a judgment should pertain to the case.

  In response, the judge said that legal work was a conscientious business and that he was trying to "demonstrate human concern."

  On Jan. 19, Liu, who the judgment said has a stammer and is slightly mentally disabled, was arrested for theft after he was discovered stealing about 30kg of abandoned metal wire owned by the Wanyou Paper Factory in the Yuanchang township of Yunlin County.

  In his judgment, Lin detailed the process by which Liu answered questions in court.

  "He had a serious stutter and could hardly utter a word. Instead of asking him to speak, I suggested he write down his explanations," Lin wrote of Liu, who was jailed for 21 months in January 1998 for theft.

  "[Liu] wrote: `After I came out of jail, I left those bad friends. My stammer has made it very difficult for me to find a job, but I was determined not to be a thief. To make a living, I decided to collect scrap iron and waste paper to sell,'" Lin wrote.

  Lin said in the verdict he sympathized with Liu, who he said had to support a wife -- who is also mentally disabled -- and a daughter by selling useless materials.

  Yesterday, Lin said he wrote the judgment in the style he did to fully display a judge's required qualities of being experienced, wise and conscientious.

  "Besides professional knowledge, legal workers have to show their humanitarian concern to enable verdicts to be filled with the love of life," he said.

  Lin said that to allow defendants to fully understand the reasons for a verdict, the judge should explain the cause in detail and present statements in the most comprehensible manner.

  Lawyer Hsueh Ching-feng (薛欽峰) agreed that there was a trend in the judiciary to write judgments in a more colloquial manner.

  "The most important thing is how the judge uses the laws and considers the evidence," he said. "How he writes is irrelevant."
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