Local judicial administrations have compiled lists containing the names of 131,990 people in total who qualify as citizen judges to preside over cases from next year, Judicial Yuan Disciplinary Court Head Judge Peng Hsing-ming (彭幸鳴) said on Thursday as the judicial system is preparing for a far-reaching update to its proceedings.
Six citizen judges are from Jan. 1 to join three professional judges presiding over criminal trials, she said.
In the first stage of implementation, panels with citizen judges would only preside over major criminal cases, such as homicides, Peng said.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
Based on the lists, local courts would conduct further screenings of candidates, and those who qualify would be notified by mail by the end of this year, she said.
Vetting would be thorough to ensure that the process is fair, she said.
People selected as judges can direct their questions to dedicated officials at local courts, she added.
As there has been rumor that criminals are planning to send fake notifications, people who receive suspicious mail should call the 165 anti-fraud hotline, she said.
“The official notification will come with an instruction booklet,” Peng said.
The documents would feature a simple and direct presentation, and be visually appealing, easy to understand and user-friendly, she said, adding that the government hopes that the design would help increase people’s willingness to participate in the new system.
”The documents will explain the process. They will also contain a survey and a registration form” to explain the new citizen judge system, she said.
Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Huei-huang (林輝煌) said: “It is a privilege and a duty for people to serve as citizen judges.”
The citizen judges and their professional peers would work as a team on the newly designed panels, Lin added.
The panels would carefully deliberate cases before voting whether the defendant should be found guilty, Lin said.
The panel would also decide on the kind and length of punishment, he said.
”Citizen judges will not be left alone … and decisions will be made collectively, while each judge will have the right to independently make their decision” he added.
The new panel composition is based on the Citizen Judges Act (國民法官法), which is to take effect on Jan. 1.
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