In her inaugural address on May 20, 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received applause for reassuring the public that she would pursue judicial reform. The National Congress on Judicial Reform was held in November that year, and its summary meeting produced 87 resolutions. Given that the key to judicial reform lies in a coordinated effort, Tsai pledged to personally keep track of its progress.
However, Tsai seems to have turned a blind eye to the lack of development in some of the major resolutions.
Four years after the summary meeting, civil society has yet to witness a satisfactory result. While the Judicial Yuan, the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies have revised laws and introduced new measures on some issues, there remain a number of resolutions lacking attention. Some of them have not made any progress so far.
Faced with insufficient efforts made by the authorities, the Alliance of Non-Governmental Supervision on the Resolution Implementation of the National Congress on Judicial Reform held an online news conference to call on the government to restore communication with the public. In particular, the semi-annual report on judicial reform — proposed by the Judicial Yuan and the Executive Yuan — should be immediately restarted.
The alliance specifically highlighted four areas that need attention.
The first includes the review mechanism for unjust cases; the reform of the Criminal Cases Review Commission; the evidence rules shared by criminal, civil and administrative litigations; joint liability in environmental cases; the replacement of the principle of unitary information; public participation in the prosecutorial review system; the protection and enhancement of the rights and subjectivity of persons with disabilities in judicial procedures; and the establishment of a National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, a Police Project and Performance Regulatory Commission and a National Commission on Forensic Science.
The second addresses resolutions that are urgent for administrative agencies to make final decisions: the amendment of the Genetic Health Act (優生保健法); the reversal of the burden of proof in public nuisance disputes; the establishment of a mechanism for unlawful gains assessment of environmental damage; and the reform of the pyramidal structure of the court system.
The third concerns resolutions that have produced amendments, but are pending completion of legislation: the protection of the rights and interests of crime victims; amendments to Section 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on expert witnesses; and the enactment of a whistle-blower protection act.
The fourth describes new systems that have been enforced, but their effectiveness is unclear or concerning: The mechanism for the public to directly evaluate judges and prosecutors on a case-by-case basis; the implementation of the principle of non-disclosure of investigations; the establishment of an independent external inspection panel; the effectiveness and review mechanism of the Labor Incident Act (勞動事件法); the improvement of the quality of interpretation, and protection of the rights and interests of foreigners; promotion of gender awareness among judicial personnel; the prevention of frivolous litigations; the legalization of administrative closure for prosecutorial offices; and the simplification of legal documents.
Implementation of these measures not only depends on a joint effort made by administrative agencies, it also requires the legislature to make them a priority in the new legislative session.
If Tsai is determined to push for judicial reform, she must now take the lead.
Huang Yu-zhe is a student at National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of Law and Interdisciplinary Studies
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