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.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,