Lawmakers yesterday continued to slog through a review of a draft “national judge act” that began on Monday afternoon, covering only one-third of the act, or 37 articles, by noon.
However, lawmakers vowed to complete the review of the draft and the third reading by midnight yesterday.
A total of 113 articles have been proposed for the draft, and after three rounds of deliberation, 100 articles still needed to be discussed.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The draft articles that passed a second reading yesterday include that the lay judge system would comprise three career judges and six lay judges, with the lay judges being chosen from citizens aged 23 and over who have resided within the jurisdiction of the court for at least four months.
As of press time last night, lawmakers were expected to review draft articles on lay judges obtaining days off from work, and on whether lay judges would have access to the dossier and evidence.
While the review was continuing in the main chamber, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus held a news conference outside the legislative complex.
KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) told reporters that the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) past guidelines and 17 DPP legislators favored a jury system instead.
The DPP was selling out, choosing to give the public a lay judge system — a decision that was “made behind closed doors with the Judicial Yuan” — which would allow professional judges to continue to be the main decisionmakers in the judicial processes, Lin said.
The KMT’s version of the act is that of a moderated lay judge system, which was formulated after much discussion with experts and civic groups, Lin said.
The KMT’s version, which would utilize a lay judge system and jury system simultaneously, shows the true spirit of reform, he said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the DPP’s view has changed over time.
The party’s guidelines were formulated under an autocratic government and called for a transparent judicial process with a jury formed by party representatives, National Assembly representatives and other morally upstanding people, Ker said.
This differs from the standard definition of a jury system, he said.
The US’ legal system cannot be transplanted directly to Taiwan; doing so would require sweeping changes to laws such as the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) and re-educating law students and lawyers, Ker said.
The DPP is doing what a responsible political party would do, Ker said, adding that the KMT’s proposal for two legal systems working side-by-side would not work.
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