Tue, Feb 09, 2021 page3

• Majority dissatisfied with judicial reform measures: survey

  • By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
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  Law practitioners and Taiwan Jury Association (TJA) members yesterday gave the government a failing grade for its judicial reform efforts, citing the results of a survey showing that nearly 70 percent of the respondents were dissatisfied with reform measures, amid an investigation into former Supreme Court judge Shih Mu-chin (石木欽) and others over corruption allegations.

  Presenting the results at a news briefing in the legislature, TJA director Chen Wei-shyang (陳為祥) said the association had commissioned Taipei-based polling firm D&S Intelligence Co to conduct the survey from Jan. 28 to 30.

  “The results showed that 68.9 percent of people do not trust our justice system ... while only 26.4 percent said they trust it,” he said. “This is a historic low for people not trusting in the justice system.”

  

  Taiwan Jury Association director Chen Wei-shyang holds a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  Of the respondents, 76 percent said that having a jury system would improve the judiciary’s problems, he said.

  On the issue of judges and judicial officials engaging in improper conduct, such as dining at banquets at others’ expense and receiving gifts, 65 percent said they believed it was common practice.

  When asked about the issue, 79.5 percent said they were not satisfied with it.

  On the Judicial Yuan’s handling of the Shih case, 79.5 percent of respondents said they were not satisfied, and even if proper punishments were handed out, 40.8 percent said they believed that the Judicial Yuan president should resign, Chen said.

  Retired law professor and former Examination Yuan member Chang Cheng-shuh (張正修) said that in the past, many people had no faith in receiving a fair trial.

  They perceived the justice system as being rife with corruption, “because they believed there were many cases of wrongful conviction, of innocent people receiving a guilty verdict,” Chang said.

  “Currently, judges have too much power, because Taiwan’s justice system allows them to act like emperors in conducting court proceedings, and they can boss everyone around,” he said. “Judges also have too much authority when making rulings, as they can find a defendant guilty or innocent based on their personal interpretation of presented evidence and their own viewpoints.”

  With so much authority, judges can basically decide a case on their own, as there is no citizen participation or oversight mechanism, Chang said, adding that this had led to people bribing judges to receive a favorable ruling.

  Now the general public has seen allegations that judges were bought by Chia Her Industrial Co (佳和集團) president Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾) in a judicial scandal in which many judges, and judicial and police officials have been embroiled, he said.

  “The government has made progress in cleaning up the system and pushed for reform, but this scandal was a big slap in the face,” Chang said. “If nothing is changed, then such egregious corruption and buying of judges will happen again and again, because all the conditions and influencing factors are still there.”

  D&S Intelligence Co executives said that the telephone and mobile phone survey had 1,085 valid responses. It had a 95 percent confidence level and a 2.98 percent margin of error.
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