The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday pledged to reinstate the special investigation division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and strictly oversee the government’s implementation of the death penalty as part of judicial reforms it plans to introduce in the new legislative session, which starts tomorrow.
Incoming KMT legislator-at-large Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), formerly a prosecutor and New Taipei City legal affairs bureau director, said the caucus would continue to push for the reinstatement of the special investigation division despite opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan People’s Party.
“My idea is simple: Treat good people better and treat bad people worse. Prosecutors have been so burdened by their workload they do not have time to handle major cases in the same way the nation did when it had the special investigation division,” Wu told a news conference at the KMT’s headquarters in Taipei.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The KMT caucus would also propose that a cap on prison sentences be extended from 15 years to 25 years, and that additional jail time for specific aggravated offenses be raised from 20 years to 30 years, he said.
The government should give judges the option to mete out life sentences without parole, and establish stricter criteria to scrutinize parole applications from inmates or requests to serve their sentences in minimum-security prisons, he said.
Wu said that he would closely monitor the Ministry of Justice’s implementation of death penalties.
The ministry has not enforced the Regulations for Executing the Death Penalty (死刑執行規則) for a long time, which is a clear case of the executive branch intervening in the judicial branch, he said.
The KMT caucus would address rising incidents of fraud, and gun and drug trafficking in the draft technology investigation act (科技偵查法) and seek separate sentences for manufacturing, transporting and selling drugs, he said.
The caucus would also propose amendments to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法), Culture and the Arts Reward and Promotion Act (文化藝術獎助及促進條例), Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries Act (文化創意產業發展法) and the Cultural Fundamental Act (文化基本法) to better preserve cultural assets, increase funding for cultural development and relax regulations on corporate sponsorships in cultural and creative industries, incoming KMT legislator-at-large Lin Chien-chi (林倩綺) said.
The caucus previously proposed introducing absentee ballots, amendments to the Budget Act (預算法) and postponing the retirement of the Jinshan, Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants.
Meanwhile, the KMT yesterday elected legislator-elect Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) as its new caucus whip and Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) as the caucus’ new secretary-general.
Fu’s first task as the caucus whip is to ensure that incoming KMT legislator-at-large Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) would be elected legislative speaker and deputy speaker respectively at the start of the new legislative session.
Legislators who skip the vote, vote for other candidates or vote incorrectly would be subject to the strictest party discipline, Fu said.
“All KMT legislators are united and have clearly indicated that they would support Han and Chiang,” he said.
“All legislators must be present and cast their votes. Those who fail to do so would receive the strictest discipline from the party,” he added.
‘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
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
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