Judicial Reform Foundation Statement on "Judicial Day"

Today is the annual Judicial Day, and President Ma Ying-jeou was invited to speak at the opening ceremony of the Judicial Day academic symposium jointly hosted by the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice.

In addition to reiterating the necessary actions our country should take after signing the two international human rights covenants, President Ma specifically expressed his views on the state of judicial reform. He believes that the purpose of judicial reform is to protect human rights, yet issues concerning judicial reform—such as the legislation of the Judges Act—have been delayed due to divergent opinions among the Judicial Yuan, the Ministry of Justice, and professional organizations. He stated that he will "irregularly" seek advice from all sectors of society on judicial reform and will forever serve as a backing for judicial human rights.

When the Judicial Reform Foundation and more than a dozen civil society groups visited President Ma on December 11 of last year, they directly requested that if the President resolves to promote judicial reform, he must take into account the failed experience of a decade of unsuccessful judicial reform and prioritize the establishment of an opinion-communication platform to effectively resolve disputes among all parties. Therefore, representatives of the groups proposed establishing a judicial reform committee within the Office of the President to serve as the President's staff unit for judicial reform.

We affirm President Ma keeping his promise to make the above declaration today, one month later. However, we must still remind that continued concern and tracking of judicial reform issues is not interference with the judiciary, but rather the best action demonstrating President Ma's response to the legislative by-election results: "persist in reform and stride forward." Furthermore, the specific implementation of the President's declaration to "irregularly" seek advice from all sectors remains our focus, and civil society groups will begin communicating with the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice regarding judicial reform issues. In the future, we will continue to monitor the progress of judicial reform and urge the President to fulfill his commitments to judicial reform.