Opposition lawmakers, citing public opinion polls that said 74.1 percent of the public believe rulings run in favor of the wealthy, yesterday questioned the neutrality of the nation’s judiciary.
During a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) cited a poll conducted by National Chung Cheng University in the first half of this year that showed mistrust of judges among the public stood at 78.7 percent.
A Judicial Yuan poll this year also showed that mistrust of judges was at 48.5 percent among the public, greater than 44 percent of respondents who said they trust judges, Tsai said.
More than 50 percent of respondents in the Judicial Yuan’s poll expressed doubt over the independence of judgements and the appropriateness of rulings in criminal cases, Tsai said, with 74.1 percent saying there was a discrepancy in rulings for the rich and poor.
Tsai said the polls show there is a general distrust of the judiciary, but added that 70 percent of the public said they would regain trust in the judiciary if a judges’ assessment system were implemented.
The general review for judges should be changed from once every three years to once per year, Tsai said, adding that restructuring the review system was key to dissolving the public’s distrust of the judiciary.
Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chin-fang (林錦芳) said the lack of trust was due to a lack of understanding.
Previous polls showed that 85 percent of respondents had never been to court, Lin said, adding that most court proceeding brought to the attention of the public were through media reports.
A lack of experience with court procedures creates a different view of the system, Lin said, which is why the Judicial Yuan has been calling to allow the public to sit in on judicial proceedings.
Lin said assessments and reviews of judges are two different matters, adding that the costs involved in changing the regularity of reviews would be a potential impediment to the plan.
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