The Judicial Reform Foundation and other civil groups today called on lawmakers to postpone deliberation of an amendment that would allow live broadcasts of courtroom proceedings, as the variety in types of litigation risks infringing on the rights of involved parties.
Opposition lawmakers last month submitted the draft amendment of the Court Organization Act (法院組織法) directly to a second reading.
The foundation held a news conference at the Legislative Yuan today, issuing a joint statement together with 17 other civil society groups including Covenants Watch and the Awakening Foundation.
Photo courtesy of the Judicial Reform Foundation
Although broadcasting court proceedings could increase the transparency and openness of the judicial system, they said they are concerned about the amendment being rushed through legislative procedures.
In terms of protecting the people’s right to litigation and the defendant’s right to a fair trial, there are some serious flaws in the draft submitted by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), the Judicial Reform Foundation said.
It called on the Legislative Yuan to consider the amendment seriously and refrain from forcefully passing a bill without thorough deliberation.
Broadcasting court proceedings could bridge the gap between the judiciary and the public, and enhance public understanding and trust in the legal system, it said.
However, it is important to promote this policy prudently to ensure it does not infringe upon the rights of the parties involved, it added.
The foundation said that legislation of open court proceedings needs to ensure that all parties involved receive a fair trial.
Related practices vary across foreign legal systems and need to be evaluated, the foundation said.
Taiwan needs to be cautious about broadcasting court proceedings, as there are many kinds of litigation and this would have far-reaching impacts if implemented across the board, it added.
The TPP has hastily handled the legislative process for this amendment, which needs to be thoroughly discussed, the foundation said, urging the review be postponed.
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do