The amendments to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) that will send military personnel to civilian courts for trial represents an “extremely big change” to the nation’s legal system, a source familiar with military law said yesterday.
The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday passed amendments to the code to make service personnel subject to prosecution and trial in civilian courts for offenses committed during peacetime.
The amendment is the latest major modification to the 1956 law. The legislature passed an amendment in 1999 to set up independent military courts and keep superiors out of the trials of their subordinates to uphold the spirit of judiciary independence, the source said.
The majority of low-level military justice personnel had “absolutely no idea” that court martials were being scrapped during peacetime “until they saw [the Cabinet’s press conference on Saturday] on TV,” the source said.
The Cabinet announced its intention to amend court martial laws in response to a massive demonstration on Saturday last week, when about 200,000 people took to the streets near the Presidential Office to demand justice for army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), who died on July 4 during his mandatory service, and better protection of human rights in the military.
The court martial system has long been a divisive issue, with a majority of academics agreeing that military trials should be scaled down during times of peace, but calls for “an outright abrogation/abolition” of the system were few in number before the issue reached the legislature, the source said.
The amendments passed on Tuesday will be implemented in two stages.
The first, effective immediately, brings military servicemen to civilian courts under the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟).
Other offenses will not be subject to civilian trials until five months after the amendment has been promulgated.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
RSS