A group opposed to the death penalty commended yesterday's overhaul of the Criminal Code through a law amendment aimed at gradually abolishing the death penalty. The groups also urged for the strengthening of correctional counseling to inmates.
Yesterday's final reading of the Criminal Code amendment abolished the death penalty for individuals under the age of 18 or over the age of 80.
"This amendment is on the right track to abolish the death penalty. We think the time to gradually abolish more crimes leading to death penalties in the Code has arrived," said Wu Chi-kwang (
The alliance suggested that crimes that do not directly inflict harm on human life should be the first to have the death penalty abolished.
Wu stated that the death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking and kidnappings where victims remain alive should be the first to be abolished.
"Removing the death penalty from all the crimes at once may be a little too much for the public; therefore, gradual changes could be made," Wu said.
In order to ensure the public that the death penalty would not result in increased recidivism of released offenders, Wu emphasized that correctional and counseling services on the part of the prison administration must be strengthened.
In addition, penalties for those who turn themselves in are also eased. According to the amendment, those who turn themselves will receive a lesser penalty than in the current Code.
Currently, Article 56 of the Criminal Code stipulates that if several successive acts constitute similar offenses, such successive acts may be considered to be one offense, but the punishment prescribed for the offense may be increased by up to one half.
An amendment was made to this article that all crimes will be classified through "crime type" and penalties will be handled independently.
The new change is intended to curb recidivism.
This major amendment, which was the first in the past 50 years, will take effect on July 1, 2006.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to