Statement by the Judicial Reform Foundation Regarding the Supreme Court's Dismissal of Wang Hsin-kai's Appeal (Private Prosecution Case Concerning the March 24 Executive Yuan Violent Eviction)

In the early morning of March 24, the state mobilized police force to disperse citizens peacefully assembling at the Executive Yuan. With the assistance of volunteer defense attorneys, the victims successively filed private prosecutions with the Taipei District Court. Among them, Dr. Wang Hsin-kai, who filed his private prosecution later, was unexpectedly ruled inadmissible directly by both the District Court and the High Court. The volunteer defense team appealed to the Supreme Court, which unexpectedly dismissed the appeal today (January 22). The Foundation deeply regrets this outcome and issues the following statement:

For such major private prosecution cases affecting the procedural litigation rights of more than 40 victims, the Supreme Court neither conducted open oral arguments nor spent sufficient time, "speedily" dismissing the appeal in less than three weeks and closing the case hastily.

The Supreme Court's wrongful dismissal of the appeal ignored the fact that these cases were not identical to one another, stripping victims of their litigation rights simply because they filed their private prosecutions later. It has devolved into shielding perpetrators of state violence. The volunteer defense team will petition the Grand Justices for a constitutional interpretation and will absolutely not relinquish its resolve to pursue accountability for state violence.

The Supreme Court has consistently lacked a constitutional perspective in its interpretation of the law, summarily dismissing cases without regard for the people's litigation rights, which has repeatedly drawn criticism. Echoing the previous joint petition signed by more than half of the nation's judges, reform of the Supreme Court can no longer be delayed!

Press Contact

Deputy Executive Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation, Attorney Chen Yu-fan 02-2523-1178