The right to re-establish a special investigative division (SID) belongs to the judiciary, Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) said yesterday, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi proposed setting up an “opposition party SID” to investigate government officials.
Prosecutors’ offices already exercise the powers of investigation and prosecution, Cheng said when asked by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) whether such a division is necessary or constitutional during a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
The SID was established under the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in 2007 and abolished in 2017.
Photo: Chen Tsai-ling, Taipei Times
It was granted special powers to investigate corruption and financial misconduct by the president, vice president, the heads of the five branches of government, ministerial-level officials and generals.
The division’s wiretapping and other controversies led to political turmoil in 2013 involving then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), then-legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and other prominent figures.
Lawmakers amended the Court Organization Act (法院組織法) to abolish the SID on Jan. 1, 2017.
The Ministry of Justice listed five major reasons to terminate the SID, including that its functions can be performed by existing prosecutors’ offices, Wu said.
“We therefore must not revive this agency, as it would interfere in the proper functioning of the legislature and other government branches,” she said.
Fu told reporters the party would not set up an SID with state funding, nor let the judiciary be in charge.
“It is up to opposition parties to take in ideas from all sides and join together to investigate all the major scandals over the past eight years,” Fu said.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Wednesday said that his party does not support the idea.
“Since campaigning last year, our party had opposed the SID. The nation’s laws must have consistency, fairness and equal application, so we should not have another special unit to investigate top government officials,” Ko said.
DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said the push to revive the SID is Fu’s way of avenging what he perceives as unfair targeting by the justice system on his cases of financial misconduct and other crimes in past two decades.
Fu went to prison twice in 2018 and 2020 for insider trading, stock manipulation and document forgery for a fraudulent divorce from his wife to enable her to serve as Hualien County commissioner after Fu was convicted and had to serve time in prison.
DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) said re-establishing the SID would seriously harm judicial independence.
“For the SID to be revived under KMT control, it would be under the party’s political manipulation, and impossible to act with objectivity, fairness and equality toward all citizens,” Chen said.
“Legislators must not abuse their power to interfere in the proper functioning of the justice system,” he said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS