Court Hearing for the Chiang Kuo-ching Case Compensation Claim: Ministry of National Defense, Please Step It Up! ~ Post-Court-Observation Statement by the Citizens' Court Observation Group on the Ministry of National Defense's Claim for Compensation Against Ch'en Chao-min and Others
Last edited: 2026-07-27
Regarding today's (the 21st) civil court hearing on the Ministry of National Defense's claim for compensation for the Chiang Kuo-ching case against Ch'en Chao-min and others, our organization conducted a court observation and issues the following statement:
- Today, the performance of the lawyers retained by the Ministry of National Defense in court became more proactive, which should be related to the continued public attention on this case.
- However, there are still regrets regarding inadequate preparation. Issues such as the legal basis for the claims, how the Criminal Compensation Act and the State Compensation Act apply to this case, whether the statute of limitations has expired, and the individual negligence of the defendants could not be clarified.
- In summary, given the current level of litigation preparation by the Ministry of National Defense, the possibility of winning the lawsuit remains unclear. If the situation is allowed to continue to develop, the outcome where the 100 million NTD wrongful compensation previously paid by the Ministry of National Defense is ultimately borne by the general public may be difficult to avoid.
Press Contact
Attorney Lin Feng-cheng, Executive Director, Judicial Reform Foundation
Background Information
In the case of Chiang Kuo-ching, who was wrongfully executed, after the Ministry of National Defense compensated Chiang's mother with criminal compensation, the Ministry of National Defense filed a civil compensation lawsuit in accordance with the law against the public officials involved in the illegality, such as Ch'en Chao-min. During the first hearing on September 24, our organization initiated a court observation, and the performance of the Ministry of National Defense seemed barely satisfactory. During the hearing, the judge not only reprimanded the Ministry of National Defense's lawyer for overly brief complaint contents, and inability to clearly explain the legal basis, underlying facts, legal requirements, and degree of negligence for which each defendant should be held responsible, but also requested the Ministry of National Defense's lawyer to supplement and submit the complaint and evidence by October 19 to facilitate arguments between both parties. On the same day, our organization also issued a statement expressing our concerns and doubts.
On October 17, Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu delivered a special report on the Chiang Kuo-ching case at the Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan. Under the questioning of legislators, the Minister of National Defense emphasized that he would urge responsible authorities to "fully engage in active litigation efforts and strive to win the lawsuit to meet social expectations." At the same lineup, external lawyers other than volunteer and regular service personnel will be hired to strengthen the lineup.
During today's hearing, our organization still conducted a court observation, and there was an "evaluation" theatrical action on site, where the public graded the Ministry of National Defense's court performance after the hearing. Most of the public rated the Ministry of National Defense's performance as "poor" and "needs to work harder." We hope the Ministry of National Defense can further strengthen its battle preparations and continue to guard the national treasury for us and protect the wallets of taxpayers nationwide in the next hearing!
This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Chinese text. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.