Taiwanese Society's Expectations for the Chairman of LAF

Editor's Note: Next Monday (3/25), the Legal Aid Foundation will hold its 1st meeting of the 4th Board of Directors to elect the 4th Chairperson. List of the 4th civilian directors: Attorney representatives: Lin Ch'un-jung, Ch'en Ho-kuei, Ho Pang-ch'ao, Lo Ping-ch'eng; Scholar representatives: Li Hui-tsung, Wu Chih-kuang; Disadvantaged-group representative: Yeh Ta-hua; Indigenous representative: Tsai Chih-wei.

Since its conception in 1998, the Legal Aid Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the LAF) has shouldered infinite expectations and entrustments from all sectors of Taiwanese society, hoping that social fairness and justice could be upheld through the professional services of the LAF and state resources. However, over the past three years, we have seen the LAF become increasingly conservative and retrenching, even deviating from its post of assisting the socially disadvantaged and defending social justice. Therefore, a group of organizations concerned about the socially disadvantaged formed the "Alliance for Safeguarding Legal Aid" in a series of connections three years ago, and publicly called for a comprehensive re-election of the LAF Board of Directors at the end of last year, aiming to reopen a new appearance for the LAF with the spirit of taking responsibility with courage. In the newly announced Board of Directors recently published, we are gratified to see several impartial individuals who have long devoted themselves to social public welfare and the protection of the rights of disadvantaged communities enter the Board.

As is well known, the LAF is an independent財團法人 (nonprofit foundation) established with the tax money of all citizens across the country. Therefore, the LAF is an asset and resource shared by all people in Taiwanese society, and is endowed with the responsibility of fighting for judicial relief for disadvantaged communities. The LAF we expect should be one that actively communicates and connects with disadvantaged communities, and continuously cares about the legal aid needs of various disadvantaged communities; the LAF we aspire to is one that can promptly respond to the socially disadvantaged, substantially promote social public welfare, and enhance the public's opportunities and belief in utilizing judicial avenues to fight for their rights.

In terms of the purpose and mission of the LAF, the LAF is the spokesperson for disadvantaged communities, and the Chairperson of the LAF needs to be able to deeply understand and recognize the problems and needs of disadvantaged communities. Therefore, we sincerely call upon that the Chairperson of the LAF for this term should be assumed by a worker from disadvantaged communities, which can not only promote the LAF's first-hand understanding of the problems of disadvantaged communities, but also elevate and strengthen the LAF's image of assisting the disadvantaged. Director Yeh Ta-hua, the representative of disadvantaged groups for this term, actively participated in student movements and social movements as early as when she was studying in the Department of Sociology at Fu Jen Catholic University. In many occasions such as environmental protection, democratic reform, women's movements, and youth rights, her sense of mission in pursuing social fairness and justice and speaking up for disadvantaged communities can be witnessed. Her more than twenty years of social movement experience, training, and persistence give her a deep understanding and first-hand assistance experience regarding the disadvantaged communities in Taiwanese society that urgently need care and assistance, making her the director in this term's LAF Board of Directors who can best represent the needs of disadvantaged communities.

Therefore, our demands for this term's LAF Board of Directors are as follows:

1. The representative of disadvantaged groups should be the representative of legal aid. We strongly recommend Director Yeh Ta-hua to assume the position of Chairperson of the Legal Aid Foundation.
2. We call upon the newly appointed directors of the Legal Aid Foundation to support Director Yeh Ta-hua in assuming the position of Chairperson, manifesting the original intent of the establishment of the Legal Aid Foundation.
3. We call upon President Lai Hau-min to support our recommended candidate, or recognize that the Chairperson of legal aid should possess the ideology of assisting the disadvantaged; if President Lai believes that he should not directly intervene in the election of the Chairperson, the official representatives should then vote freely.

Members of the Alliance for Safeguarding Legal Aid

Humanistic Education Foundation, Alian Indigenous Culture and Education Foundation, Association for Injured Workers, Catholic Diocese of Hsinchu - Migrants and Immigrants Service Center, Parents' Association of Intellectual Disabilities, Taiwan, National Alliance on Mental Illness / Taiwan Disability Alliance, Debtors' Self-Help Association, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Association for Promotion of Peaceful Development, Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Policy Association, Taiwan Indigenous Tribes Action Coalition, Taiwan Labour Front, Taiwan Association for Labor and Social Policy, Taiwan Wildbird Federation / Taiwan Ecologial Stewardship Association (Taiwan Environmental Action Network), Senior Citizens' Welfare Alliance, Judicial Reform Foundation, Trans-Asia Sisters Association, Taiwan, Indigenous Peoples Policy Association, Eden Social Welfare Foundation, Amnesty International Taiwan, Awakening Foundation, Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation, Taiwan Rural Front, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Garden of Hope Foundation, Environmental Jurists Association, Orchid Island Tribe Cultural Foundation

Press Contact

Lin Jen-hui 0935-292-293