Local courts have been asked to recruit about 120,000 eligible “lay judges” for the first roster of 300 homicide cases, as the judicial system prepares to implement the National Judge Act (國民法官法) on Jan. 1 next year.
Under the new lay judge system, three professional judges and six private citizens, or lay judges, are to form a collegiate bench to preside over trials.
During the first phase of implementation, collegiate benches are to preside over cases in which intentional criminal acts have resulted in death, while the second phase is to involve cases in which a defendant is facing at least 10 years in prison.
The nation sees about 300 homicide cases every year.
Local district courts are to ask local governments for a list of eligible citizens chosen at random to serve as lay judges, Judicial Yuan Disciplinary Court Head Judge Peng Hsing-ming (彭幸鳴) said.
Republic of China citizens aged 23 or older would be eligible to serve, Peng said, adding that local district courts would start issuing notices by the end of the year.
The estimated 120,000 eligible candidates “should be mentally prepared that they will have to serve in the coming year,” Peng said.
Judicial Yuan spokesman Chang Yung-hung (張永宏) said that the agency has held more than 55 trial sessions for the lay judge system to prepare for its implementation.
Specific groups and professionals were invited to attend five of the sessions, while for the remaining 50 sessions, local governments were asked to randomly select residents for a preliminary list, which was then trimmed by the district court, Chang said.
Based on the past year, about 102,343 individuals from 363 townships and districts have been deemed eligible, or about 98.64 percent of the eligible population.
A total of 12,114 people were selected from the initial list, Peng said, adding that they were roughly evenly split along gender lines with 6,073 men and 6,041 women, of which 471 were ultimately chosen.
They came from all walks of life, while people aged 40 to 49 were best represented, followed by 30-to-39-year-olds and 50-to-59-year-olds, Peng said.
This demonstrates that participants all have a modicum of social experience, Peng added.
Peng said that there were 167 judges, 144 prosecutors and 144 advocates, of which 128 were dispatched from bar associations, six from legal aid foundations and 10 from assigned counsel, adding that this shows that more practicing lawyers are endeavoring to become better at their profession.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition