A Control Yuan committee has recommended that three judges be impeached for their involvement with business tycoon Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾) while he was facing litigation in the 1990s.
The Control Yuan’s impeachment review committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend the impeachment of former Supreme Administrative Court president Lin Chi-fu (林奇福), former Supreme Court chief judge Yen Nan-chuan (顏南全) and former Tainan District Court judge Su Yi-chou (蘇義洲).
The committee said in a statement that the three judges, who presided over Weng’s litigation and his appeals, were found to have had improper contact with the businessman before or after the hearings, including receiving financial benefits such as dinners and gifts.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
“Reports on the case have led to the public to think badly of the justice system and society to doubt the independence of the judiciary... The actions of the three judges have not even met the minimum ethical standards required of judges,” the statement said.
Control Yuan members Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) and Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) led the committee, while Control Yuan member Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) conducted the investigation.
If the Control Yuan approves the recommendation to impeach the judges, the matter would be forwarded to the Judicial Yuan’s Disciplinary Court, which would assess what punishment the judges should receive.
There are allegations of widespread bribe-taking, insider trading, illegal profiteering, abuse of authority, conflicts of interest and other illicit activities, as Weng first offered company stock, banquets and luxury gifts in a bid to “buy off” the judges one by one.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office last year ordered Taipei prosecutors to review a 1997 financial dispute between Weng and BNP Paribas of France, as this case triggered all of the subsequent litigation, leading to a judicial corruption scandal.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS