Despite meting out punishments to criminals for 14 years, Judge Lin Hui-huang (
The 43-year-old judge made headlines last week after riling some of his peers by handing down a judgment written in literary language filled with compassion for the defendant.
"Whereas most judges choose to conceal their emotions in their written verdict as if they are afraid to reveal their real thoughts, I simply want to be true to my personal feelings. I write what's in my mind," Lin said.
"So long as the verdict is reached though comprehensive legal debate, I don't consider it improper to write the verdict with emotion, because judges are not God, they are ordinary people made of flesh and blood."
On July 19, the Yunlin District Court judge fined Liu Teng-ho (
In the judgment, Lin wrote: "I looked at the defendant with compassion. I know for him to survive in society, he needs to try harder and struggle much more than we do.
"I am convinced that without this extreme pressure, he would choose to go on with his life with pride. May God have mercy on the humble, so as to allow them to survive on this earth. May the prosecutor have a kind heart to feel for the small and insignificant individual."
In his judgment, Lin detailed the process by which Liu answered questions in court.
"He had a serious stutter and could hardly utter a word. Instead of asking him to speak, I suggested he write down his explanations," Lin wrote of Liu, who was jailed for 21 months in January 1998 for theft.
"[Liu] wrote: `After I came out of jail, I left those bad friends. My stammer has made it very difficult for me to find a job, but I was determined not to be a thief. To make a living, I decided to collect scrap iron and waste paper to sell,'" Lin wrote.
Lin said in the verdict he sympathized with Liu, who he said had to support a wife -- who is also mentally disabled -- and a daughter by selling useless materials.
While critics say Lin's judgment included excessive emotional depictions, which violated what they regarded as a legal principle that every word used in a judgment should pertain to the case, Lin thought differently.
"Most judges write their verdict in conventionally stiff language, which is often incomprehensible to the public," Lin said. "But I prefer to express myself in a more understandable style because I seek to alter the general conception that judges are emotionless or intimidating. They should be as friendly as neighbors."
But those close to Lin believe his humane approach was more associated with his background.
"[Lin] feels for the under-privileged because he comes from that level of society," said Lin Shih-chi (
The judge grew up in a poor family in Yunlin County -- one of the nation's least-developed areas.
His father died when Lin was young, leaving his mother to raise him and two other children on money she earned as a cleaning lady and doing odd jobs.
He initially studied teaching at National Taichung Teachers' College where the tuition was free.
It was not until he sought guidance from his uncle -- who was a lawyer at the time -- that he embarked on his legal career.
His uncle took him under his wing, not only acting as Lin's academic guide but also providing free board to Lin for several years.
Lin graduated from the law department of National Taiwan University, and then passed the national examination for judges in 1986. Two years later, after completing his training at the Judges and Prosecutors Training Institute, Lin finally became a judge.
He served in several district courts in central Taiwan before requesting a transfer to his home county to be close to his mother and to help those in the village where he grew up.
Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生), Lin's teacher at university, said that as well as establishing a reputation as a diligent and honest judge, Lin had also contributed a great deal to legal reform.
Dubbed "the Red Guard in the judiciary," a group of reform-minded judges of which Lin is a part have sought to make the judiciary more efficient, improve the quality of judgments and bolster the credibility of judges.
Lin has turned down several times the chance to be a presiding judge, which largely involves administrative affairs, saying "his passion still lies in lawsuits."
The judge has tried to keep out of the media's spotlight since his unconventional verdict caught the public's attention.
"I don't want to become a newsmaker, because judges might loose their credibility if they are tempted by fame or money," said Lin, who declined to have his photograph taken.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but