Statement by the Judicial Reform Foundation Regarding Taiwan High Court Presiding Judge Lee Wen-cheng's Involvement in Chen Che-nan's Alleged Judicial influence-peddling Case

Taiwan High Court Presiding Judge Lee Wen-cheng has been implicated in Chen Che-nan's alleged judicial influence-peddling case. It is reported that while Presiding Judge Lee Wen-cheng has denied prior knowledge, he admitted to accompanying Chen Che-nan to Yang Chen-feng's private club, and thus voluntarily resigned from his concurrent position as presiding judge. The Judicial Reform Foundation respects the Judicial Yuan's investigation and handling of this incident, but still hopes that the Judicial Yuan will continue to pursue the truth of the matter and provide the public with a responsible account.

However, the conditions revealed by cases of this nature are not problems that emerged overnight. This Foundation believes that the reason judicial authorities are completely unable to prevent such occurrences proactively, detect and promptly deter deviations in judicial personnel's behavior early on, is precisely due to the judiciary's lack of an independent evaluation and supervision mechanism. The current vague and lenient Code of Judicial Ethics, alongside the Judicial Self-Discipline Committee—which is neither public nor transparent—evidently fails to exercise effective supervisory functions. Only by enacting the Judges Act, establishing an external independent supervision and evaluation institution to process public complaints, can we fundamentally and effectively address the ethical conduct issues of judicial personnel in gray areas on a daily basis, rather than dragging our feet until situations become severe, illegal acts truly occur, and evidence is clear before taking remedial action after the fact.

The nongovernmental version of the Judges Act draft has been submitted to the Legislative Yuan, awaiting the official version from the Judicial Yuan for substantive review. We hope the public will step up in support by participating in the "One Letter per Person, Enact the Judges Act" campaign, signing the joint statement to urge the Judicial Yuan to promptly finalize the official Judges Act draft and submit it to the Legislative Yuan. We also look forward to the 6th Legislative Yuan attaching importance to this bill, ensuring the swift passage of the Judges Act draft to establish a supervision and evaluation mechanism for judges and prosecutors at an early date, thereby effectively preventing similar incidents from recurring.