The Court of the Judiciary has dismissed Taoyuan District Court judge Yu Li-hua (俞力華) for dereliction of duty, saying she had caused delays in the handling of 45 cases over five years and meted out light punishments for drug trafficking.
From 2013 to last year, Yu had been remiss in handling cases, unreasonably delaying the prosecution of more than 45 cases by six months or more, the disciplinary body’s report said.
“Yu’s improper case management has infringed upon the rights of plaintiffs and defendants to a fair trial and to receive a valid judgement, and has obstructed the due process of law,” it said.
The court “found failings in her conduct” and the investigation shows unequivocal evidence that her dereliction of duty had major consequences on the legal rights of the people in these cases, it said.
Yu started as a candidate judge at the Taoyuan District Court in 2008 and was promoted to bench judge in 2014.
From 2014 to last year, she mainly handled simple legal proceedings, the report said.
The most contentious case involved two people convicted of trafficking 316kg of ketamine — classified as a class 2 drug under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) in 2014.
Despite the large amount of illegal drugs, trafficking of which is punishable by a minimum of five years in prison, Yu sought to reduce the punishment for the two defendants.
After two years of processing the case, she handed out suspended sentences for the duo, a five-year probation with no prison time, the report said.
The High Court ordered a retrial, which upheld a previous conviction and the two were sentenced to more than three years in prison in the final ruing.
The Control Yuan last year began investigating Yu for alleged negligence. She resigned as judge in September last year.
After completing the investigation, Control Yuan members moved to impeach Yu.
The dismissal by the Court of the Judiciary means Yu can no longer work as a judge or a prosecutor, but she is not banned from working as a lawyer or taking up another civil service position.
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