The government must put forward a timetable for establishing “judicial mental hospitals,” the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.
The party issued the call amid a public uproar over the High Court’s acquittal on Thursday of a man in Taoyuan who in 2018 beheaded his mother while under the influence of amphetamine.
The court’s invocation of Article 19 of the Criminal Code as the basis for its acquittal of the man, surnamed Liang (梁), was highly controversial and at odds with society’s expectations, the KMT said, urging President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to reform the judicial system as it has promised, thereby restoring people’s faith in the judiciary.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Legal experts have spoken out against the court’s invocation of the article, as Liang’s crime was not caused by a mental disability or disorder, but by an able-minded decision to use amphetamine, which should preclude him from being categorized as “having seriously impaired judgement of his actions,” it said.
Rather, he should have been tried under a provision under the article that bars people who have committed a crime “intentionally or out of negligence” from receiving a reduced sentence, it added.
The High Court overturning the first verdict that sentenced Liang to life in prison and ordering that he be escorted home by Taoyuan Department of Public Health employees has shocked society and caused panic, it said.
More than three months have passed since a man diagnosed with schizophrenia was acquitted for killing Railway Police Bureau officer Lee Cheng-han (李承翰), prompting public calls for the government to establish judicial mental hospitals for criminals with mental illnesses, the KMT said.
However, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not made any notable progress on the matter, with the governing agency, locations and staffing of the proposed facilities still in limbo, it said.
The establishment of such hospitals is urgent, and the government’s inaction has revealed its incompetence, it said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday said the first judicial mental hospital would be established in two months, but the Executive Yuan has not decided whether to commission the health ministry or the Ministry of Justice for the task, which raises serious doubts over whether the government can deliver on its promise to create such a facility in two months, it said.
The Executive Yuan should not take the issue lightly and should give people a definite answer on whether it will establish the hospitals to allay public concern over crimes committed by mentally challenged people, it said.
The High Court’s acquittal of Liang showed that there is a long road ahead for judicial reform, and Tsai should accelerate efforts to improve the judicial system, so that it can properly serve its purpose of serving justice and regain people’s trust, the KMT said.
KMT Legislator Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) has tendered a draft amendment to the code, recommending that the five-year limit on the period that a mentally challenged convict be taken into custody be lifted to improve social security, while KMT Legislator Sandy Yeh (葉毓蘭) has submitted a proposal that seeks to bar the judicial system from acquitting suspects with mental illnesses unless their conditions have been reaffirmed by judicial psychiatric hospitals.
The DPP should back the proposed amendments, which are feasible and in line with public expectations, the KMT said.
Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) said the establishment of judicial mental hospitals would involve intergovernmental discussions on treatment, prevention and staffing.
The Executive Yuan will keep the public informed once it comes up with a sound solution, Ting said.
As for the proposed two-month time frame, he said that it is an estimate by concerned agencies, but that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has said he wants the matter resolved as soon as possible.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
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