Amendments to the Military Trial Act (軍事審判法) would remove regulations that are unconstitutional and bolster the training and independence of military trial professionals, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The Ministry of National Defense began working on amendments to the act after President William Lai (賴清德) last week announced that the nation would reinstate the military court system in response to China’s increasing infiltration and espionage activities in the Taiwanese defense system.
Military court judges would work with prosecutors to handle criminal cases involving military personnel who are on active duty, such as rebellion, leaking secrets, dereliction of duties and disobedience, Lai said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) is to convene a Cabinet meeting in the first half of next month to hear strategies and action plans to be implemented by government agencies to counter the threat from China, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told reporters at a news conference after the Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
“The government would also make major revisions to the part of the previous military court system that was widely criticized and inconsistent with the Constitution. Once reinstated, the military court should be a system allowing fair trials, protecting human rights with due processes and fulfilling the requirements in the constitution, while maintaining order and discipline in the military. Professionals in the military trial system should receive training and adjudicate independently,” Lee said.
Asked about the difference in penalties that would be imposed on retired military personnel and those on active duty, Lee said that they would undergo different trial procedures, adding that judges would decide the types of criminal trials that a person should undergo based on facts.
Contradictions in rulings between the military and civilian courts could be avoided through investigation of evidence and the three levels of the court system, she said.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Jury Association urged the government to reinstate a committee to investigate and accept appeals for unjust cases in the military before reinstating the military trial system.
The appeals committee was established when the government abolished the military trial system following the death of army specialist Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲秋) in 2013, association chairman Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文隆) said.
However, the committee ceased to function after operating only for one year, Cheng said.
“While it is necessary to reinstate the military court system for national security reasons, not reinstating an independent and effective appeal committee for unjust cases in the military would leave military personnel without protections, and could damage their morale and the image of the military,” Cheng said.
The appeals committee is intended to provide supplementary details to the official investigations, rather than replacing prosecutors, he said.
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