A group of legal experts criticized Chief Prosecutor Eric Chen's (
They said that the Taipei District Court should refuse to accept the case based on Item 1 of Article 303 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (
Other experts, however, said that Eric Chen had not violated the Constitution in questioning the president in connection with first lady Wu Shu-jen's (吳淑珍) indictment on charges of corruption and forgery.
Regarding the president's willingness to relinquish his presidential immunity, Winston Dang (陳重信), director of the Democratic Progressive Party's Department of International Affairs, said in a recent interview with the New York Times that since presidential immunity belongs to the office of president, relinquishing the immunity to criminal prosecution must follow legal procedure and could not be unilaterally decided on by the president himself.
The president is not allowed to serve as a witness in a trial involving the first lady, Dang added.
Some legal experts said that Article 52 of the Constitution is meant to ensure the functioning of the presidency, political stability and foreign affairs, rather than to protect the president as an individual.
One legal expert said that the president made a grave mistake when he decided to give up his presidential immunity to accept the prosecutor's questions without his lawyer's presence, while Eric Chen ignored the intent of Article 52, which could lead to the politicization of the judiciary's role in the case, constitutional controversy and political conflict.
Many experts also say that the intent of Article 52 to guarantee the independence of the judiciary is often ignored. They say that any investigation or indictment of an incumbent president is bound to put the judiciary at the center of a political storm which would threaten and even destroy the judiciary's independence and credibility.
However, legal experts in favor of Eric Chen's decision to interrogate the president believe that he did not violate the Constitution.
They say that Article 52 of the Constitution only stipulates that the president shall not be liable to criminal prosecution, but does not say that the prosecutor is not allowed to list allegations against the president in the indictments of other suspects.
Huang Jui-hua (黃瑞華), president of the Ilan District Court, wrote a letter to the editor of the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) on Wednesday accusing Eric Chen and his colleagues of having acted unconstitutionally by investigating the president while still in office.
Article 52 gives the president immunity from criminal investigation unless he is suspected of rebellion or treason, she said.
Huang yesterday said that she neither intended to influence the upcoming court case nor believed judges in the case would be influenced in any way, but was just discussing a constitutional issue, a topic that anyone may raise, and that she had not intended to discuss any "individual case."
"A court president, at any level of the court system, is unlikely to influence a presiding judge today. If he or she still thinks of such a possibility, then he or she is underestimating today's judges," she said.
She made the remarks after being advised in person by Judicial Yuan President Weng Yue-sheng (
Fan Kuang-chun (范光群), secretary-general of the Judicial Yuan, said that the judicial branch had sent memos to all courts reminding them to remain neutral in all cases and to carry out fair and independent trials.
Judges enjoy freedom of expression, but at the same time they should strictly follow guidelines and rules governing their professional behavior, Fan added.
On whether Huang would be disciplined for commenting on the "state affairs fund" case, Fan said only that Weng had spoken to her.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS