The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法) that would transfer jurisdiction of all military criminal cases to the civilian judicial system during peacetime.
The immediate result of the vote is that the prosecution of 18 army officers and non-commissioned officers in connection with the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) last month will be passed to civilian prosecutors and judges.
Other military criminal cases will be transferred to the civilian system by the beginning of next year.
Photo: CNA
Political parties quickly reached a consensus on the issue yesterday morning in a cross-party negotiation convened by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) that came less than three days after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Taipei on Saturday to demand the immediate reform of the military judicial system.
Lawmakers hailed the vote as “historic” and said that the move would safeguard human rights in the military and enforce the principle of judicial monism.
The amended clauses include Articles 1, 34 and 237 of the Code of Court Martial Procedure and Article 8 of the National Security Act.
The amendments transfer jurisdiction for cases involving abuse of subordinates, obstruction of petition by violence or threat, offense against the external security of the nation and other criminal cases.
The Democratic Progressive Party caucus said it welcomed the amendments, since the party has always advocated the use of a single, centralized judicial system during peacetime.
The military’s handling of the investigation into Hung’s death has sparked widespread public outrage, with many people saying they no longer trusted the military judicial system.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) told a news conference at the legislature that his party, which previously insisted on a two-phase amendment of the legislation, had listened to the public’s demands and agreed to amend the laws in one go, but implement the reform in two phases.
That means the Hung case, as well as other cases that fit the criteria, will be immediately transferred while all other military criminal cases will be transferred in five months to allow time for the military and civilian judicial systems to work out the transfer process.
However, the KMT insists that a special military court be established under the Ministry of Justice since expertise on military affairs would be required for prosecutors and judges who handle such cases, Lai said.
Some lawmakers were not happy with the rush to pass the amendments.
KMT Legislator Chen Cheng-hsiang (陳鎮湘), a retired general who has been one of the most vocal critics of the proposed transfer, said wrongdoers in the military should be punished, but the image of the nation’s military should not be tarnished by one case.
Chen said that under the amendments, the definition of abuse would be ambiguous, which could destroy the military. He said it would be a “tragedy” if supplementary measures were not put into place.
Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said he was concerned that the military might not cooperate with civilian investigators on military criminal cases in the future.
The Ministry of National Defense said it would fully cooperate with the civilian judicial system in the execution of the amendments.
Ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said the military is studying and comparing the military confinement systems in the US, the UK and Japan as part of the process to draft amendments to the Punishment Act of Armed Forces (陸海空軍懲罰法).
After a draft is completed, the military would hold a series of public hearings before sending its proposal to the Executive Yuan for approval and the Legislative Yuan for review, Lo said.
Meanwhile, the North Military District Court early yesterday morning upheld its earlier decision to release Staff Sergeant Chen Yi-hsun (陳毅勳) on bail.
Chen Yi-hsun, who oversaw Hung’s punishment, was released on Thursday last week on NT$150,000 bail. He faces the most serious charge of those indicted for allegedly abusing Hung to death by forcing him to do excessive exercises.
The Military High Court on Monday ordered the North Military District Court to review its decision to release the sergeant on bail.
Chen Yi-hsun was quoted as telling the court during a late-night hearing that he was willing to remain in custody if his detention would help uncover the truth.
An attorney for the Hung family had argued for Chen Yi-hsun to be kept in custody, saying that he would be able to make telephone calls if released and might be able to collude with the other defendants.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS