A Control Yuan committee has recommended that three judges be impeached for their involvement with business tycoon Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾) while he was facing litigation in the 1990s.
The Control Yuan’s impeachment review committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend the impeachment of former Supreme Administrative Court president Lin Chi-fu (林奇福), former Supreme Court chief judge Yen Nan-chuan (顏南全) and former Tainan District Court judge Su Yi-chou (蘇義洲).
The committee said in a statement that the three judges, who presided over Weng’s litigation and his appeals, were found to have had improper contact with the businessman before or after the hearings, including receiving financial benefits such as dinners and gifts.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
“Reports on the case have led to the public to think badly of the justice system and society to doubt the independence of the judiciary... The actions of the three judges have not even met the minimum ethical standards required of judges,” the statement said.
Control Yuan members Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) and Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) led the committee, while Control Yuan member Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) conducted the investigation.
If the Control Yuan approves the recommendation to impeach the judges, the matter would be forwarded to the Judicial Yuan’s Disciplinary Court, which would assess what punishment the judges should receive.
There are allegations of widespread bribe-taking, insider trading, illegal profiteering, abuse of authority, conflicts of interest and other illicit activities, as Weng first offered company stock, banquets and luxury gifts in a bid to “buy off” the judges one by one.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office last year ordered Taipei prosecutors to review a 1997 financial dispute between Weng and BNP Paribas of France, as this case triggered all of the subsequent litigation, leading to a judicial corruption scandal.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
RSS