Partisan strife was frequent and justice bills were few in the previous legislative session, civil groups said on Thursday, urging the governing and opposition parties to work together to pass what they described as the “10 priority policies and bills,” including a public interest act to protect whistle-blowers.
A justice alliance formed by the Taiwan Jury Association, Prison Watch, Taiwan Civil Liberties Union and other civil groups released its evaluation report on the legislature’s contribution to judicial justice ahead of the beginning of the new legislative session yesterday.
The report said the legislature underperformed, as only 11 bills were relevant to judicial justice in the previous session, much fewer than before.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Most bills that passed the third reading remained the same as the version proposed by the Executive Yuan, indicating that lawmakers are not proactive enough, it added.
The underperformance of the legislature can be linked to the legislative reform bill proposed in the session, which was intended for good, but became a waste of resources due to partisan power struggles, delaying addressing of other urgent judicial challenges, the report said.
However, the reform bill included an amendment to the Criminal Code and the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法), criminalizing “contempt of the legislature” and requiring the president to reply to lawmakers’ questions immediately after giving an address at the legislature which contradicted the Constitution, it said.
Under the Constitution, the president is not accountable to the legislature, so they do not need to respond to lawmakers, the report said, adding that the amendment should be revised.
The justice alliance also questioned the amendments to the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法), which allow prosecutors to access personal information and network traffic records for investigation purposes, which has caused concerns about invasion of privacy.
The amendments to the Fraud Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例) also raised human rights concerns, it added.
As such, the alliance proposed 10 judicial policies and bills the legislature can put on top of its agenda for the new session including: abolishing inquiry sessions conducted by prosecutors; amending the State Compensation Act (國家賠償法); establishing a public interest act to protect whistle-blowers; establishing an act in line with the UN’s Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; dividing labor between prosecution and policing systems; curbing prosecutors’ abuse of their power to appeal verdicts; amending the Prison Act (監獄行刑法) to protect prisoners’ rights to vote and institute legal proceedings; establishing an act to combat military injustice; and reducing judicial burdens.
Self-inflicted injuries top the list of causes of deaths in the military, with 97 cases over the past five years, the alliance said, citing data from the Audit Office, adding that the government should protect human rights in the military.
From the restriction of personal freedom to inappropriate police interrogation, torture comes in different forms and puts people at risk of inhuman treatment, Taiwan Jury Association founder Jerry Cheng (鄭文龍) said, calling for the establishment of an act against torture and other cruel treatment.
A public interest act to protect whistle-blowers is needed as well to prevent unlawful deeds inside government agencies and the private sector, he said, adding that the ruling and opposition parties should respect each other and negotiate the priority policies and bills.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its