A Question for the Judicial Yuan: Should 'Do-Nothing' Legal Aid Board Members Be Re-Appointed? ~ Demanding a Complete Re-Election of the Directors of the Legal Aid Foundation

The state established the Legal Aid Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the Legal Aid Foundation) with the purpose of serving disadvantaged groups, helping them overcome economic barriers, lowering the threshold for accessing legal resources, and achieving substantive fairness and justice. If it loses its passion and drive to assist the disadvantaged and degrades into a formalized bureaucratic institution, it will lose the purpose and meaning of its existence.

The "Alliance to Safeguard Legal Aid" (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance), established by civil society organizations, is composed of community organizations that care for and substantially assist disadvantaged groups. As Taiwan gradually becomes a society that values the rule of law, disadvantaged individuals may inevitably find themselves subject to legal regulations or needing to realize their rights through the law. Therefore, whether the Foundation operates well is a matter of shared destiny and deep concern for both those who assist and those who are assisted.

Consequently, both disadvantaged groups and members of the Alliance hold deep expectations for the Legal Aid Foundation. However, since the third-term board of directors took office in March 2010, the overall operation of the Legal Aid Foundation has seemed to be in an extremely conservative state of stagnation. Many frontline social workers feel this strongly and believe that the board of directors cannot escape blame for failing to make bold reforms, shoulder responsibilities, and respond promptly to the needs of the socially disadvantaged, and thus must bear the ultimate responsibility. The following three observations may roughly describe the problems within the board of directors:

1. Board Members Do Nothing, Staff Struggle to Work

   The core focus of legal aid is precisely to prevent people from being shut out of the courtroom simply because they lack money—that is, to realize "substantive" justice. It is often found that some citizens own only the house they live in and possess no other assets or cash. Therefore, the condition of "unless manifestly unfair" was specially established to allow frontline staff to exercise discretion based on actual circumstances, excluding primary residences so that people do not have to "sell their homes to fight a lawsuit."

   However, due to a lack of courage and for the sake of administrative and "formalistic" review convenience, the board of directors removed the principle of non-exclusion in cases of manifest unfairness. This has created difficulties for certain project populations applying for legal aid, running completely counter to the spirit of legal aid!

2. Focus on Words, Meetings Accomplish Nothing

   To say that the legal aid board of directors spends its meetings entirely discussing the wording, terminology, and punctuation of proposals might be an exaggeration; nevertheless, compared to other proposals deemed more important by civil society groups, there has clearly been a misplaced sense of disproportionate priority.

    

3. Becoming Mere Passers-By, No One Cares for the Disadvantaged

   Over three years of operation, the third-term board of directors has shown zero willingness to establish, or even discuss the possibility of establishing, any special projects to assist disadvantaged groups in need of legal aid. Most board meetings merely discuss routine matters. Having been established for a mere eight years, why is it already showing signs of age and fatigue?

Accordingly, we put forward several demands as follows:

1. As the competent authority for the Legal Aid Foundation, the Judicial Yuan should supervise the board of directors to bravely shoulder responsibilities, clarify work priorities, promptly respond to the needs of the socially disadvantaged, establish special projects, or provide services that meet actual needs.
2. Based on our disappointment with the board of directors of the Legal Aid Foundation over the past three years, we advocate for a complete re-election of the board of directors this time to present a brand-new appearance.
3. Following discussions among its members, the Alliance will also explicitly recommend individuals who are enthusiastic about participating in legal aid in their daily lives to serve as a reference for the President of the Judicial Yuan when making appointments.

Attendees

Taiwan Peace Foundation Chien Hsi-chieh, Taiwan Wild Bird Association Li Mo-tang, Women's Rescue Foundation Chang Kai-strong, Taiwan Labor Front Yang Shu-wei, National Alliance of Senior Citizens' Welfare Wu Yu-chin, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty Lin Hsin-yi, Environmental Jurists Association Lin Jen-hui, Catholic Diocese of Hsinchu Migrant and Immigrant Service Center Chang Yu-cho, National Association for Youth Rights and Welfare Wu Cheng-che, Victims of Credit Card Debt Self-Help Association Ho Wen-xiang, Indigenous Tribes Action Alliance Utus Mudaden, Chen Min-yuan, Judicial Reform Foundation Lin Yung-sung, Lin Feng-cheng

Press Contact

Lin Feng-cheng 02-2523-1178

List of Member Organizations of the Alliance to Safeguard Legal Aid

Humanistic Education Foundation, Association for Work-Related Accident Victims, Catholic Diocese of Hsinchu Migrant and Immigrant Service Center, ROC Association of Parents of Mentally Retarded Children, Republic of China Alliance of Citizens with Disabilities, Victims of Credit Card Debt Self-Help Association, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Peace Foundation, Indigenous Tribes Action Alliance, Taiwan Labor Front, Taiwan Association for Labor and Social Policy, Taiwan Wild Bird Association, Taiwan Wild Bird Association (note: duplicate in original), Taipei Bar Association, Judicial Reform Foundation, Nanyang Taiwan Sisters Association, National Alliance of Senior Citizens' Welfare, Eden Social Welfare Foundation, Amnesty International Taiwan, Women's Rescue Foundation, 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