Lawmakers across party lines on Thursday remained silent on the agreement of the preparatory committee for the National Congress on Judicial Reform to list adultery as an offense that needs to be decriminalized, with only a few openly voicing support or opposition.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said the party had already received a great many reactions — mostly negative — regarding the news that decriminalizing adultery would be a part of future judicial reforms.
Lin called on the government to hold more public hearings and listen to opinions from all sides, adding that judicial reforms should not be carried out until there is a social consensus.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that while many counties do not treat adultery as a criminal and punishable offense, the culture in Taiwan still tends to be conservative on such social issues.
Decriminalizing adultery could have a social impact comparable with the decriminalization of class-4 narcotics, which led to an increase in the number of younger drug users, Lee said.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislators declined to comment on the development.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said he fully supported the motion and said adultery cases should be adjudicated in civil courts, as treating adultery as a criminal issue was outdated and unfair.
KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said he opposes the proposal and that decriminalizing adultery would cause severe change within society.
The KMT supports “family values” and would keep those values in mind when scrutinizing the amendment in the Legislative Yuan, Sufin said.
The committee also called for the abolition of Article 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), should Article 239 of the Criminal Code not be abolished.
Article 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that under the “no trials without complaint” principle, if charges against one of the accomplices are dropped, charges against all other suspects would need to be dropped as well. Under Article 239 of the Criminal Code, however, adulterers would still be charged should their spouse retract the charges.
The committee has held five meetings to date, though it has experienced several setbacks, including opposition by Prosecutor-General Yen Da-ho (顏大和), who said that the reforms were a publicity stunt.
Two of the committee’s original members have resigned, citing a lack of respect among the members, too many issues on the agenda and the committee overreaching its authority.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A series of discussions on the legacy of martial law and authoritarianism are to be held at the Taipei International Book Exhibition this month, featuring findings and analysis by the Transitional Justice Commission. The commission and publisher Book Republic organized the series, entitled “Escaping the Nation’s Labyrinth of Memory: What Authoritarian Symbols and Records Can Tell Us,” to help people navigate narratives through textual analysis and comparisons with other nations. The four-day series is to begin on Thursday next week with a discussion between commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠), Polish-language translator Lin Wei-yun (林蔚昀), and Polish author and artist Pawel Gorecki comparing
MOVING OUT: A former professor said that rent and early education costs in Taipei are the nation’s highest, which makes it difficult for young people to start families The population of Taipei last year fell to the lowest in 23 years due to high rent, more transportation options and the expansion of northern cities into a single metropolis, academics and city officials said on Monday. Data released this month by the Ministry of the Interior showed that the capital was home to 2,602,418 people last year, down 42,623 from 2019. The decline is second only to 1993, when the population fell by 42,828 people, while Taipei’s population was the lowest it has been since 1997. Taipei saw the biggest drop among the six special municipalities, while Taoyuan led the group in
A legislator yesterday called for authorities to investigate the sale of Chinese-made, Internet-connected karaoke machines containing “propaganda songs.” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said she was approached by a person who had discovered Chinese patriotic songs such as My Motherland (我的祖國) — which is commonly referred to as China’s “second national anthem” — in Chinese-made karaoke devices sold in Taiwan. The machines are popular, as they can connect to the Internet, providing access to thousands of songs, she said. One retailer, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the machines first entered the local market about three years ago, starting with
RSS