More than 82 percent of people in Taiwan believe a lay judge system set to be implemented at the start of next year will improve the nation’s justice system, a survey released last week by the Judicial Yuan showed.
The result reflects an increase in public confidence in the system since the National Judge Act (國民法官法), which provides the system’s legal basis, was passed by the Legislative Yuan in 2020, the survey conducted in June showed.
Similar surveys were also carried out in November 2020, and May and September last year.
Photo: CNA
The act stipulates that criminal cases warranting a prison term of at least 10 years or premeditated crimes that resulted in death are to be reviewed by a collegiate bench comprising three career judges and six citizen judges starting from Jan. 1 next year.
Asked if they agreed with the statement that the lay judge system would advance the nation’s judiciary, 82.2 percent of respondents said they did, up from 81.7 percent last year and 64 percent in 2020, the survey showed.
Meanwhile, 13.7 percent said they disagreed, while 4.1 percent were undecided or abstained.
The number of people who have heard of the policy also saw a marked increased, with 76.2 percent of respondents this year saying they had heard about it — an increase of 20 percentage points from the results in 2020, which showed 56 percent knew of the system.
On whether they would assist in the adjudication of cases under the lay judge system, 60.8 percent of respondents said that they would, down 2.7 percentage points from the number last year, suggesting that the public is still hesitant about participating in the system, despite having some degree of understanding of it.
Asked how many days they could set aside to take part in the review of a case under the system, 29.5 percent of respondents said “no more than three days,” 15.1 percent said they would be “willing to comply regardless of the time needed to review a case” and 11.8 percent said “six to seven days,” the survey showed.
Those who were “unwilling to participate” accounted for 11.6 percent, while 13 percent were unsure or abstained, it showed.
The survey was conducted among Republic of China citizens living in Taiwan or the outlying islands who were at least 23 years old and eligible to serve as lay judges.
It gathered 1,068 valid samples through telephone interviews, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Judicial Yuan spokesman Chang Yung-hung (張永宏) said the government had made efforts to inform the public about the lay judge system since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) promulgated the act in August 2020.
The Judicial Yuan said it would continue to raise public awareness about the system and make the necessary preparations before it takes effect next year to further boost the public’s confidence in the policy.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
RSS