President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday announced her nominees for the president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan, saying that she was confident they would enhance judicial reforms.
Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission Chief Commissioner Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) was picked to succeed Rai Hau-min (賴浩敏) as president and Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chin-fang (林錦芳) to succeed Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) as vice president.
They were also named to the Council of Grand Justices.
Tsai made the nominations after accepting the resignations of Rai and Su, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said.
“Lai and Su offered their resignations, both verbally and in writing, shortly after Tsai was sworn in on May 20 to let Tsai make her own personnel arrangements in the judicial system. The president has expressed her gratitude and appreciation of their dedication and hard work,” Huang said.
Tsai had sought the opinions of legal professionals before making the nominations, Huang said.
The nominations now go to the Legislative Yuan for approval.
Hsieh has served in the prosecutorial system and the Judicial Yuan for many years and has put forward ideas for judicial reform, Huang said.
“Judicial reform is the next priority of the Judicial Yuan,” he said. “The president believes that Hsieh’s experience will be helpful to the government’s promotion of reforms and advancement of the judicial system, as it could ensure smooth communication within the Judicial Yuan while building the public’s trust in the judicial system.”
Lin is the first woman in the Republic of China’s history to be nominated to be vice president of the Judicial Yuan.
“Tsai’s nomination of Lin is aimed at tapping female judicial talent and increasing the percentage of female grand justices, which underscores the president’s determination to implement gender equality,” Huang said.
He downplayed a complaint from New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who said he could not accept Lin’s nomination on the grounds that she was secretary-general of the Judicial Yuan when it promoted the controversial “observer jury system” in 2010.
“The system was promoted by Su during his term… Lin did not share Su’s opinions on the system, nor did she approve of it,” Alex Huang said.
In other developments, the Presidential Office released the guidelines for establishment of a preparatory committee for national affairs conferences on judicial reform.
The guidelines say that judicial experts would constitute less than half of the committee’s 15 to 21 seats, which are to be filled by representatives from the government, civic groups and other organizations.
“The limit on the number of judicial experts is meant to ensure larger participation by civic groups, representatives of disadvantaged groups and academics in other fields as part of the government’s reform efforts,” Alex Huang said.
Quoting Tsai’s inaugural address, he said the judicial system must respond to the public’s needs and should be designed for everyone, not just legal professionals.
The committee has four missions: Gathering opinions from all sectors of society regarding judicial reform; endeavoring to reach a consensus and determine the direction of judicial reform; holding a national affairs conference on judicial reform; and giving counsel to the president on matters concerning judicial reform, the spokesman said.
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