After devoting 29 years to the field of law enforcement, senior prosecutor Morley Shih (施茂林) has finally reached the top -- he's been appointed justice minister.
The naming of Shih to the post was announced by Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who will be sworn in as premier on Feb. 1. Shih will replace the current minister of justice, Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), and will take the minister's office along with his fellow Cabinet members early next month. Chen will return to his hometown of Ilan to campaign for the Ilan County commissioner election in December.
"The promotion provides new inspiration and challenges for me," Shih said. "In the future, my major job will be to keep people safe. In addition, we will keep working on a plan to abolish the death penalty, which is also the ministry's long-term policy."
Shih also said that a qualified prosecutor should know what he or she is doing and why.
"Being a prosecutor, you have to deal with a lot of sensitive cases from time to time, so you have to be very sensitive yourself," Shih said.
"When you make a mistake [in investigations], you hurt the image of all prosecutors -- not just yourself. You have to be extremely careful," he added.
Before he assumes the justice minister's office on Feb. 1, Shih is currently the vice justice minister, a position he assumed only last November. He is one of the most popular prosecutors in the nation because he enjoys "helping" his fellow prosecutors instead of "assigning" them.
At the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office where he worked for more than three years, Shih received praise from his fellow prosecutors. Shih was more like a teacher and father than a boss, former co-workers said.
"[Shih] often visited different offices and asked us whether we needed help ... he helped a lot when he had time. He even helped rookie prosecutors find a dorm room, which he really did not have to do," an prosecutor at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said on condition of anonymity.
Prosecutor Eric Chen (陳瑞仁), who is also the spokesman for the Prosecutors Reform Association (檢察官改革協會), said that Shih was selected as the "best candidate for the post as the state public prosecutor-general" in 2000 and last year by the association's members.
Currently, the justice ministry employs approximately 850 prosecutors, but two-thirds of them are members of the association.
"[Shih] was a prosecutor himself so he knows what a prosecutor needs," Eric Chen said. "His being appointed the new justice minister is really an encouragement to his fellow prosecutors."
Eric Chen also said that the most serious problem faced by prosecutors is a shortage in manpower.
"It has been a problem for years. Shih definitely knows how to solve the problem," Eric Chen said.
In addition to his relationship with prosecutors, Shih also established connections with the media, and has on occasion met personally with reporters in order to find out what the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office should do to improve.
"[Shih] is good at communications and negotiation," Eric Chen said. "It is a required personality trait for a justice minister."
Shih was born in Chiayi on Aug. 2, 1950. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from National Taiwan University, where he was classmates with now Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in 1972.
He passed the national exam for judges and prosecutors, passed the one-year recruiting program and became a prosecutor at the Taichung District Prosecutors' Office in 1976. In 1982, he switched gears and became a judge at the Taichung District Court. Two years later, he was promoted to presiding judge.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
RSS