Prosecutors, Judges, and Attorneys Should Be Examined and Trained Together!

According to news reports, the Examination Yuan meeting passed the "Draft Regulations on the Examination of Judicial Officers, Prosecutors, and Attorneys" yesterday, stipulating that the examinations for judicial officers and attorneys will be combined. Candidates will be admitted to their respective roles based on their test scores and ranked choices of preference, thereby reducing the burden on applicants of taking multiple exams.

Regarding the appointment of judges, the bipartisan consensus is to encourage the transition of attorneys into judges. Under the current Regulations on the Appointment of Judges and Prosecutors by Attorneys, qualified attorneys only need to pass certain review standards to transition. However, the Examination Yuan's draft still requires individuals who are already qualified attorneys to take the second stage of the judicial officer examination. This is tantamount to discrimination against attorneys and contradicts the Judicial Yuan's previously declared plan to cease appointing judges through examinations starting in 2008.

In addition, regarding post-exam training, aside from the JRF's long-standing advocacy for joint training, the competent authorities—the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice—both support joint examinations and joint training. Such an approach would not only soundly foster legal professionals and provide prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys with the same foundational training, but by ensuring a thorough understanding and recognition of each other's roles and functions, it would also facilitate interaction among the three parties and make future transitions of attorneys to judges much easier.

As for the funding concerns raised by the Examination Yuan, if room and board expenses are deducted and combined with a feedback mechanism for legal aid, the overall cost will not necessarily increase. At the same time, this would strengthen the public-interest role of attorneys, fulfill the state's expectations regarding attorneys engaging in legal aid, and accelerate the establishment of a substantially fair society.

※ Published in: Liberty Times / Free Plaza