A Judicial Yuan plan to budget NT$120 million (US$4.15 million) next year for a public marketing campaign to promote a lay judge system is an attempt to mislead society on “wrongly implemented” reforms, a civic group said yesterday.
The Taiwan Jury Association, which has been pushing for a jury system instead of the government’s preferred lay judge approach, said the Judicial Yuan should face up to the core judicial reform issues that need to be addressed.
The Judicial Yuan should promote impartial trials and improve the judiciary for those working within it, rather than throwing money at “propaganda,” the association said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The Judicial Yuan has proposed a budget of NT$220 million for next year, of which NT$120 million was earmarked for the promotional campaign.
The campaign would feature television, film, radio and online components, and the Judicial Yuan plans to hire Internet celebrities and a professional spokesperson, association president Wu Ching-chin (吳景欽) said.
“A recently proposed amendment to the Criminal Compensation Act (刑事補償法) would award victims of judicial miscarriage between NT$160,000 and NT$360,000,” New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said. “How is it that the government can only provide such a small amount to those who have gone through such suffering, while spending such a large amount on propaganda?”
The Judicial Yuan must squarely face its errors to gain the public’s trust, he said.
For example, it could systematically research what led to miscarriages of justice, Chiu said.
The Judicial Yuan should explain why such a large budget is needed for a promotional campaign, association founder Jerry Cheng (鄭文龍) said, adding that over the course of a year fewer than 600 cases would be tried using lay judges.
“If no improvements are made to judicial proceedings, then what is the point of hiring Internet celebrities to promote the system?” he said.
Internet Gazette Law Paper (法治時報社) publisher and legal expert Huang Yueh-hung (黃越宏) said that the Judicial Yuan was using taxpayer money to promote its lay judge system, while abandoning a proposed jury system, which the Democratic Progressive Party calls for in its charter.
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