Judge Rebukes Ministry of National Defense for Delaying Tactics, Four Hearings Yield No Progress—Post-Court Observation Statement on the Ministry of National Defense's Civil Suit for Compensation against Ch'en Chao-min and Others in the Chiang Kuo-ch'ing Case

Regarding today's (13th) civil court hearing on the Ministry of National Defense seeking compensation from Ch'en Chao-min and others for the Chiang Kuo-ch'ing case, our Foundation conducted a court observation and issues the following statement:

1. This case held its first hearing on September 24, 2012, its second hearing on November 21 of the same year, and its third hearing on January 16, 2013, with today marking the fourth hearing. However, because the plaintiff, the Ministry of National Defense, failed to fulfill its prior promise and delayed serving its preparatory brief to the court and the defendants, neither party was able to prepare in advance for today's fourth hearing, resulting in a lack of progress. The judge directly rebuked the Ministry of National Defense for its delay, rendering today's hearing practically futile.

2. Before both parties were able to present methods of attack and defense or express opinions regarding disputed and undisputed matters, the court could only preliminarily outline four major categories of disputed issues, asking both parties to subsequently submit briefs to express their opinions. The disputed issues are as follows:

1. Is the plaintiff's claim against the defendants under the Criminal Compensation Act justified?
2. Is the plaintiff's claim against the defendants under the State Compensation Act justified?
3. How should the amount claimed for compensation be calculated?
4. What constitutes the estate inherited by Li Chih-jen's children? What is the amount the plaintiff is entitled to claim?

3. The court hopes that both parties can submit their briefs by April 8, presenting their respective methods of attack and defense regarding the above disputed issues, and clearly explaining the points of dispute and non-dispute raised by the opposing party. In other words, this hearing made no substantial progress, and we can only look forward to the next session. The next hearing is scheduled for May 1 at 10:00 AM.

Press Contact

Brian Lin, Executive Director, Judicial Reform Foundation (Attorney-at-Law) 02-2523-1178