A former juvenile court judge with a lengthy record of misconduct, including forcing a defendant to slap themselves and kneel to apologize to their parents, has been banned from the bench for three years, a Disciplinary Court ruling said yesterday.
Chou Ching-ni (周靜妮), who was suspended from her position by the Judicial Yuan in 2022 and later resigned, was formally removed from office and banned from the bench for three years, said the court, which is responsible for the disciplining of civil servants in Taiwan.
The ruling can be appealed.
The Disciplinary Court’s decision followed investigations by a judicial evaluation committee and the Control Yuan.
The investigations found Chou, a former prosecutor, guilty of misconduct after being transferred to the Miaoli District Court in 2009, where she served as a judge in the criminal and civil divisions before being assigned to juvenile court.
During her tenure, Chou amassed a record of unexplained absences, inconsistent rulings, unauthorized cancelations of hearings and use of court documents, and improper reliance on subordinates, the investigations found.
She also frequently showed a lack of discipline and self-control, they said.
The investigations cited one example in 2015, in which Chou received a request from prosecutors to hold a detention hearing for a defendant while she was on call.
To avoid a late-night court hearing, Chou instructed a bailiff to tell the defendant that if they refused to sit for questioning at night, she would offer them bail.
Meanwhile, in a 2019 trial involving a defendant charged with beating up their father, Chou forced the young defendant to slap themselves in the face 23 times to understand how it felt, and then kneel to apologize to their parents, the investigations found.
The probes also uncovered a 2021 case in which one party applied to withdraw from mediation. Upon receiving the request, Chou called the person on the phone, and warned that if they did not retract their application, she “might” grant the other party custody of their child.
While facing her own disciplinary proceedings in 2021, Chou also improperly accessed and photocopied related documents, and threatened the person assigned to facilitate the handover following her suspension, the investigations found.
According to the Public Functionary Discipline Act (公務員懲戒法), the Disciplinary Court’s ruling means that Chou would be banned from serving as a judge for a period of three years.
If she is reappointed after that period, she would also be barred from holding a supervisory position for an additional two years.
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