Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Monday said they would seek to amend the Juvenile Justice Act (少年事件處理法) to require that victims’ opinions be considered in parole reviews, following an outcry that the sentencing of two teenagers for the stabbing death of a fellow student was too lenient.
In December 2023, a male student stabbed a ninth-grader, identified by his surname, Yang (楊), following an argument between Yang and a female student at an unnamed New Taipei City junior high school. The female student allegedly urged the other male student to “kill” Yang during an ensuing fight. Yang was taken to Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), where he died the following evening.
The New Taipei City District Court’s juvenile court in October 2024 sentenced the male student to nine years in prison and the female student to eight years. Following an appeal, the High Court in December last year raised the sentences to 12 years for the boy and 11 years for the girl.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
However, the victim’s family said after the High Court ruling that the sentence was insufficient and fell short of their expectation of a 30-year prison term.
KMT legislators, led by Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷), on Monday told reporters they would propose a “graded parole” mechanism for serious crimes, and that input from the victim and their family must be considered during parole reviews.
The amendments to the act would “restore fairness and justice” for victims, Hung said, adding that he hoped a bill could be scheduled for review in the coming weeks and that government agencies would draft their own proposals.
Under the proposed graded parole system, in cases of premeditated murder, injuries resulting in death or other intentional violent acts resulting in death where the final prison sentence is 10 years or more, parole would be strictly prohibited, while the parole review must take into consideration input from the victim’s family members, Hung said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS