Press Conference on the Release of the Evaluation Report for Judicial Yuan Grand Justice Nominees

Summary of the 2010 Evaluation Report on Nominees for Grand Justices and the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan

1. Regarding Attorney Lai Hao-min

   The defining characteristic of Mr. Lai Hao-min, nominee for Grand Justice and President of the Judicial Yuan, is that he has no distinct characteristics. As can be seen from the attached evaluation opinions and scoring charts, although Attorney Lai traveled to Japan in his early years to study criminal procedure law and constitutional law, after returning to Taiwan, he did not actively advocate for democracy and human rights through research and writing. Although it is rumored that he once supported the democratic movement, records from the past two or three years show no evidence of a correct understanding of democratic constitutionalism and human rights concepts, aside from his continuous service in various positions. On the contrary, during his tenure as a member of the Central Election Commission, he supported election administration proposals that were unfavorable to the exercise of direct democracy. His moral integrity appears to be free of major flaws. His philosophy on judicial reform was almost a blank slate prior to his nomination. While his remarks after being nominated echoed many opinions from civil society judicial reform groups, whether these represent Attorney Lai's true beliefs and thoughts remains to be seen. Given the lofty status and heavy responsibilities of a Grand Justice who concurrently serves as the President of the Judicial Yuan, we can only conclude "not recommended" and "unsuitable" for an attorney lacking distinct characteristics and positive achievements.

2. Regarding Professor Su Yung-ch'in

   Professor Su Yung-ch'in, nominee for Grand Justice and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan, is a prolific scholar in the fields of legal studies and judicial reform. However, the collected data shows that since the authoritarian martial law period, Professor Su has offered numerous conservative opinions supporting authoritarianism, restricting democracy, and suppressing human rights on almost all major constitutional, democratic, and human rights controversies, including freedom of speech, sovereignty, the ban on political parties, the power of criminal detention, and referendums. His moral integrity also suffers from multiple serious flaws, including trampling on procedural justice and paving the way for Mr. Ma Ying-jeou to assume a full-time professorship in the Department of Law at National Chengchi University. His views on judicial reform differ severely from the conclusions of the National Judicial Reform Conference and the historical stance of the Judicial Yuan. Regarding the status of judges and prosecutors and the separation of the judiciary and prosecution, he advocated for the enactment of a "Judiciary Officials Act" during the National Judicial Reform Conference, which conflicted with the versions of the "Judges Act" proposed by both the Judicial Yuan and civil society. After collecting and reviewing various data, we found that Professor Su demonstrated significant negative performance across most categories. Therefore, we have reached a "strongly not recommended" conclusion, deeming him "highly unsuitable" for the positions of Grand Justice and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan.

Appendix

2010 Evaluation Report on Nominees for Grand Justices and the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan

Press Contact

Attorney Lin Feng-cheng, Executive Director and Spokesperson of the Citizen Coalition for Judicial Yuan Grand Justice Nominees Evaluation 02-2523-1178

Members of the 2010 Citizen Coalition for Judicial Yuan Grand Justice Nominees Evaluation

Association for Taiwan Fairness (Hsiaoshe)
Taipei Bar Association
Taiwan Law Association
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Judicial Reform Foundation
Taiwan Bar Association