Judicial reform advocates yesterday launched a “National Judge Information Platform” to provide guidance and assist people who become part of a proposed lay judge system.
The platform has compiled case documents gathered from district courts and would add feedback from participating lay judges to add to assessments by observers and legal practitioners, Judicial Reform Foundation chairman Lin Yung-sung (林永頌) said.
“It is to help people now involved in the simulation court trials that the Judicial Yuan is running nationwide, preparing them for the official implementation of the lay judge system in two years,” Lin told a news conference in Taipei alongside Taiwan Jury Association director Chen Wei-shyang (陳為祥) and representatives from the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy and the Taiwan Labor Front.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The legislature in July last year passed the National Judge Act (國民法官法), setting 2023 as the start of citizen participation as lay judges in criminal cases, with the bench to consist of six lay and three career judges.
“We opposed the lay judge system while the changes were being discussed,” Lin said. “For genuine judicial reform, Taiwan needs a jury system, as they have in the US, Canada and most other leading democracies.”
It was unfortunate that the Judicial Yuan led the drive to oppose the jury system and also rejected a recommendation for a “twin track” proposal, in which jury and lay judge systems would be tried for a few years before one would be adopted, he said.
However, as the legislature has passed the act to adopt the lay judge system, the public has to go along with it, he said.
The platform would prepare people to engage in the simulated court program as well as duty as lay judges, Lin said, adding that the program is vital, as most are not familiar with legal procedures and have no trial experience.
Among the platform’s main objectives would be providing guidance and background information; teaching the duties and responsibilities of lay judges; preparing participants to maintain their mental and emotional well-being, as they might be required to view material in murder cases and other violent crimes; evaluating results from the simulated trials; and providing feedback and suggestions for potential participants, the groups said.
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