Local judicial administrations have compiled lists containing the names of 131,990 people in total who qualify as citizen judges to preside over cases from next year, Judicial Yuan Disciplinary Court Head Judge Peng Hsing-ming (彭幸鳴) said on Thursday as the judicial system is preparing for a far-reaching update to its proceedings.
Six citizen judges are from Jan. 1 to join three professional judges presiding over criminal trials, she said.
In the first stage of implementation, panels with citizen judges would only preside over major criminal cases, such as homicides, Peng said.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
Based on the lists, local courts would conduct further screenings of candidates, and those who qualify would be notified by mail by the end of this year, she said.
Vetting would be thorough to ensure that the process is fair, she said.
People selected as judges can direct their questions to dedicated officials at local courts, she added.
As there has been rumor that criminals are planning to send fake notifications, people who receive suspicious mail should call the 165 anti-fraud hotline, she said.
“The official notification will come with an instruction booklet,” Peng said.
The documents would feature a simple and direct presentation, and be visually appealing, easy to understand and user-friendly, she said, adding that the government hopes that the design would help increase people’s willingness to participate in the new system.
”The documents will explain the process. They will also contain a survey and a registration form” to explain the new citizen judge system, she said.
Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Huei-huang (林輝煌) said: “It is a privilege and a duty for people to serve as citizen judges.”
The citizen judges and their professional peers would work as a team on the newly designed panels, Lin added.
The panels would carefully deliberate cases before voting whether the defendant should be found guilty, Lin said.
The panel would also decide on the kind and length of punishment, he said.
”Citizen judges will not be left alone … and decisions will be made collectively, while each judge will have the right to independently make their decision” he added.
The new panel composition is based on the Citizen Judges Act (國民法官法), which is to take effect on Jan. 1.
‘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
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
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
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