New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) yesterday introduced a proposal to amend the Crime Victim Protection Act (犯罪被害人保護法) to mandate that the government provide victims with legal assistance or refer them to legal aid.
The government must take on the responsibility of informing victims of the legal assistance available to them, Wang told a news conference in Taipei, adding that informing people should not be considered a “favor” but an obligation.
Since its promulgation in 1998, the act has mainly been used to regulate compensation, while ensuring victims’ rights has been neglected, she said.
Photo: Wu Shu-wei, Taipei Times
Wang is the mother of a girl nicknamed “Little Lightbulb,” who was killed by a man diagnosed with schizophrenia near her elementary school in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in March 2016. The incident triggered a national outcry and turned Wang into an advocate for the rights of crime victims.
Believing that the spirit of the act should be the protection of victims’ rights, Wang said that her proposal aims to change its name to the “act on the protection of the rights of crime victims.”
The existing act is “very crude” and inferior to its US and European counterparts with its limited jurisdiction, only covering people who are killed, seriously wounded or sexually assaulted, NPP Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) told the news conference.
Wang’s proposal seeks to establish a comprehensive network of support for victims and would facilitate lateral communication between government agencies about victim assistance.
National Tsing Hua University assistant professor Lien Meng-chi (連孟綺) said that Wang’s proposal seeks to authorize the government to directly compensate crime victims, complete with conditions that victims must meet to qualify for compensation and the corresponding sums.
Wang’s proposal includes the proactive provision of customized legal assistance for victims, a gradual expansion of the act’s coverage, an abolition of subrogation, the creation of a body to oversee work to protect crime victims’ rights, one-stop legal services, and the establishment of an independent crime victim protection fund.
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