United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) yesterday called for “emergency bypass surgery” on the justice system by enhancing the role of police investigators to help prosecutors clear a backlog of cases.
Joined by legal experts and lawmakers at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Tsao said that inefficiencies and outdated protocols had left the justice system in “paralysis.”
Comparing it to a coronary incident, he said it had clogged blood vessels and was headed for a heart attack.
Photo: CNA
“We must perform an emergency bypass surgery right now,” he said.
Police should be responsible for investigating petty crimes, before transferring them to prosecutors to “share the work burden and spur on cooperation,” while preventing the two sides from wasting time doing the same job, he said.
“It would also more reasonably and equitably divide our precious judicial resources, leading to improved efficiency for criminal investigations,” Tsao said.
In March, he launched the Taiwan Civil Liberties Union to advocate for judicial reforms, including expediting the legal process.
The intent of the Criminal Speedy Trial Act (刑事妥速審判法), which went into effect in 2019, is to prevent prosecutors from appealing a first ruling without good reason or sufficient new evidence, he said.
The current system allows prosecutors to file an appeal without due cause, which has resulted in delays and inefficiencies, leading to cases clogging up the courts, he said, adding that it also further harms the reputations of people who are later found not guilty in criminal matters.
“A justice system in paralysis cannot uphold justice for citizens,” Tsao said.
Taiwanese expect the Judicial Yuan and Executive Yuan to reform the legal system, “but the real battle is in the Legislative Yuan, for legislators to propose and approve amendments that improve the law and are in line with advances in society,” he said.
“In the past under one-party authoritarian rule, Taiwanese could only hope for a benevolent leader to grant them favors, to foster change. Now we are a democracy where the sovereignty and power are held by the citizens, so we should take up that responsibility to demand change, and unify our efforts to push for judicial reform,” he said.
Last year, prosecutors filed about 160,000 cases with charges that would carry minimum prison sentences of five years or less, Taiwan Jury Association director Chen Wei-shyang (陳為祥) said.
That made up about 65 percent of the total number of indicted suspects, many for petty crimes and not severe offenses, Chen said.
The police should have handled the investigating and evidence-gathering for these cases, he said.
“Public prosecutors had 750,000 cases last year, while we have fewer than 800 prosecutors. Each one has to address about 937 cases each year. They are overburdened and cannot do a thorough job for most cases,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said that civil groups and judicial reform advocates recommend that police investigators handle defamation, public insult, theft and other petty cases.
As police officers have close contact with local communities, they are more likely to fairly and reasonably investigate such matters, and then prosecutors can review the cases to determine whether to pursue indictments, Tsai said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS