The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it is in favor of fine-tuning the severity of corruption charges, but cautioned that changes must consider the makeup of the legal system, or they would result in incessant judicial conflicts.
DPP caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) was responding to a proposal by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) to waive punitive measures for corruption charges on gains of NT$50,000 or less.
The proposal came after a Taipei sanitation worker was convicted of corruption earlier this week for gifting a rice cooker worth NT$32.56 slated for recycling to a recycling worker.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The man was given a three-month prison sentence, deferred for two years, and was disenfranchised for one year in a ruling that can be appealed.
When the public supports punishing corruption, leading to higher fines and more severe sentences, judges and prosecutors are hard-pressed to overlook petty crimes, Chung said.
It is difficult to take both sides, he said, adding that while legislators’ proposals align with public sentiment, discussions of whether laws should be amended should be grounded in the rule of law.
Amendments to the Criminal Code should include what crimes are considered petty and which should see more severe sentences, Chung said.
Lawyer Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) on Facebook said that the case should not have been tried in the first place, and that a staid practice of law instead undermines public trust in the judiciary.
When a crime is negligible and not worthy of punishment, it should not be sustained, Huang said, adding that this is the “ultimate ratio” concept under law.
Huang cited the Supreme Court’s No. 4225 ruling in 1985, which states that while actions may be considered crimes, if there is no actual criminality in the act, criminal charges should not be sustained.
However, he added that Weng’s proposal was “a joke,” as it meant civil servants would not be penalized if they embezzled NT$49,999 multiple times.
The proposal would only result in more numerous small-sum corruption cases, he said.
In response, Weng said that she was not the only one to have proposed similar amendments, citing proposals from DPP legislators Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) and Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄).
She also called on the Cabinet to expedite its review of proposed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and forward them to the legislature.
Additional reporting by Liu Wan-lin
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