Panelists attending a seminar on pretrial detention yesterday called on the government to reform the detention system, which they said violated a suspect’s right to the presumption of innocence and also violated the right to a fair trial.
The Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) allows prosecutors to request a suspect be detained for two months and to ask for an extension — for a maximum of two months — if they consider it necessary to continuing detaining a suspect, but there is no maximum detention length for suspects who face a sentence of more than 10 years if convicted.
OLD-FASHIONED
“Detention in felony cases and unlimited detentions of suspected criminals are an old-fashioned mindset and pose a serious challenge for human rights protection in modern states,” Chen Tze-lung (陳志龍), a professor of law at National Taiwan University, said at the seminar hosted by the Control Yuan.
“They especially run counter to the ideals of presumption of innocence and efficient processing of cases,” said Chen, who has published a paper reviewing the rationale behind the use detention in felony cases.
Former National Chung Hsing University president Huan Tong-shong (黃東熊), another panelist, agreed with Chen.
“The detention of suspects breaks human rights principles in the first place,” Huan said.
DEFENSE HINDERED
“It especially complicates the situation when it comes to felony suspects because it poses lots of difficulties for an attorney to effectively prepare a defense for the defendant,” he said.
Huan also suggested the government set up an exit mechanism for unfit prosecutors and judges.
“No matter how sound a system is, it is the abuse of power by persons that cause problems,” he said.
Huan said the detention system was similar to the UK’s.
But in the UK, 97 percent of detention cases were based on concerns that the suspects might flee, while in Taiwan, only 31 percent of detention cases were based on that reason, he said.
PRE-JUDGING
Taiwan Bar Association chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that to detain a felony suspect whose case was before the court was tantamount to ruling that the suspect was guilty before trial.
“If a suspect is detained over alleged felonies, it’s hard to expect that judges would not have the mindset that the suspect is guilty,” Koo said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is