Joint Statement on Publicly Questioning the Presidential Candidates of Both Major Parties on Professional Judicial Issues

We, four organizations, previously held a press conference on January 30, 2008, publicly announcing that we would pose questions to the presidential candidates of both major parties regarding professional judicial issues such as constitutional reform, human rights protection, judicial reform, and legal education.

Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Mr. Hsieh Chang-ting agreed to accept the questions within a very short time. On the other hand, Kuomintang presidential candidate Mr. Ma Ying-jeou delayed until the morning of February 25, the very day of the public questioning event, to decline participation via a fax notice from his campaign headquarters. As a result, only Mr. Hsieh Chang-ting participated in the public questioning event on the night of February 25, publicly responding to the eight questions we raised. The full text of the Q&A has been published in the March 2008 issue of Taiwan Law Journal (Issue 104), and all sectors are cordially invited to refer to it.

On the evening of February 29, we contacted Mr. Tsai Shih-ping, spokesperson for the Ma-Siew campaign headquarters, in hopes of securing an opportunity for Mr. Ma Ying-jeou to publicly respond to the aforementioned public issues. On the morning of March 3, Judicial Reform Foundation Executive Director Attorney Lin Feng-cheng met with Mr. Tsai Shih-ping to convey our position. Mr. Tsai agreed on the spot to relay the invitation from our four organizations to Mr. Ma Ying-jeou in the shortest possible time. However, after contacting Mr. Tsai twice on March 10 and March 12, no definitive response was obtained. On the evening of March 17, Mr. Tsai Shih-ping called to state that it was definitely impossible to schedule the aforementioned itinerary for Mr. Ma Ying-jeou before the election on March 22.

To provide the general public with a complete account of the public questioning process, the entire contact process is hereby reported as above. We also publicly call upon the general public to continue strengthening supervision over Mr. Hsieh Chang-ting's responses to the eight major issues, and to urge Mr. Ma Ying-jeou to fulfill his role as a legal professional by publicly expressing his views on judicial-related public issues to clarify his policy stance. This will provide a reference for the legal professional community and the general public in voting for the presidential election, thereby thoroughly embodying the concrete connotation of high-quality democracy.