Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on Friday last week proposed extending the maximum period criminal offenders with mental health issues can be held in psychiatric detention from five to 14 years in the wake of a controversial case.
DPP Legislator Chou Chun-mi (周春米) said that the proposed amendments to Article 87 of the Criminal Code would allow courts to add three three-year extensions to the current five years of “custodial protection” that can be ordered for criminal offenders found not guilty on the grounds of diminished mental capacity.
The proposed amendments came after the Chiayi District Court on April 30 found a man surnamed Cheng (鄭) not guilty in the fatal stabbing of 24-year-old railway police officer Lee Cheng-han (李承翰) on a train from Tainan to Taipei in July last year.
The court said that Cheng’s long history of schizophrenia negated his legal culpability, and ruled that he could be released on NT$500,000 bail and transferred to a secure facility to undergo psychiatric treatment for five years.
Prosecutors have appealed the decision.
Regarding the proposed changes, Chou said that the current five-year limit does not adequately guarantee against recidivism, adding that the option of extending the treatment period would increase the likelihood that a person could be successfully rehabilitated.
The extensions would not be unilaterally decided by courts, but would be based on annual psychiatric evaluations carried out by medical professionals, she said.
Aside from the changes to the Criminal Code, the lawmakers also aim to amend Article 301 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) to allow courts, when necessary, to commit defendants to mental health facilities before a verdict has been issued, Chou said.
DPP Legislator Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴), who also voiced support for the measures, said that the changes had to be part of a larger effort to strengthen the nation’s social safety net.
For example, the ratio of social workers to people in need of psychiatric counseling is 1 to 405, she said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has set a goal of cutting that to 1 to 80.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) suggested adding a requirement that at least two hospitals determine a suspect’s mental fitness in cases involving major crimes.
Hsu’s comments were likely a reaction to the Chiayi District Court’s reliance on a single expert witness’ psychiatric evaluation of Cheng to decide whether he could not be found guilty because of diminished mental capacity.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
RSS