The former chief prosecutor in Taipei, Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗), assumed his new position as prosecutor-general at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in a handover ceremony at the Ministry of Justice yesterday.
Among his priorities are cracking down on vote-buying and illegal campaign activities ahead of the local elections in November, and setting up a high-tech communications platform to combat new forms of online crime, Hsing said.
With Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) presiding over the ceremony, Hsing took over the office by accepting an official seal from Chiang Hui-ming (江惠民) the outgoing prosecutor-general. Judicial Yuan secretary-general Lin Hui-huang (林輝煌) was also in attendance.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Hsing said he would demand that all prosecutors uphold judicial independence, have empathy and warmth for people during their investigations, maintain objectivity and professionalism at all times, and keep up to date on their training.
“Taiwanese have high expectations regarding fairness and judicial independence... We have made good progress, as Taiwan has advanced to 25th in the Swiss IMD ranking of public trust in the justice system ... surpassing the US,” he said.
Hsing said that he aims to set up a high-tech communications platform, to pool resources and fight new forms of online crime, which are usually international in scope.
He is known for heading the prosecution of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials. The case involved alleged illegal profiteering and fraudulent activities during the sales of three media companies owned by the KMT.
Some defendants were found guilty in the first ruling, but the case is under appeal.
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