Donation Ceremony for Inspection (Recount) Fees in the Invalid Election Lawsuit

This morning (the 17th) at 10:00 AM, in the meeting room of the Taiwan Bar Association, the Judicial Reform Foundation held a public ceremony to transfer funds donated by Kingston Technology to the Foundation—in accordance with the donation contract between Kingston Technology and the Foundation—to subsidize Lien Chan and James Soong for the inspection (recount) fees incurred by the losing party in Taiwan High Court 93rd Year Su-Tzu No. 2 Invalid Election Lawsuit (Supreme Court 94th Year Tai-Shang-Tzu No. 1117).

Following the presidential election last year (93), seeing that society was turbulent and unsettled due to controversies surrounding the presidential election, and that related presidential election lawsuits were mired in disputes particularly because of the massive recount costs, Mr. David Sun of Kingston Technology hoped that Taiwanese society could uphold the ideals of "ethnic integration" and "loving Taiwan" and resolve related disputes rationally through judicial procedures. Consequently, he promised to donate NT$100 million to the Judicial Reform Foundation, with the Foundation to distribute the funds after the conclusion of the related election lawsuits to the party responsible for paying the recount fees. On April 16 of last year, the Judicial Reform Foundation publicly signed an agreement with representatives of Kingston Technology and established the "Love Taiwan Ethnic Integration Special Account" to handle matters regarding the subsidization of inspection (recount) fees for election lawsuits.

On June 17 of this year (94), the Taiwan High Court 93rd Year Su-Tzu No. 2 Invalid Election Lawsuit (Supreme Court 94th Year Tai-Shang-Tzu No. 1117) reached a final judgment, requiring Mr. Lien Chan and Mr. James Soong to bear the related litigation costs, including inspection (recount) fees. In accordance with the donation contract concluded with Kingston Technology, the Judicial Reform Foundation then notified Mr. Lien Chan and Mr. James Soong to submit documentation to apply for the subsidy. Upon application submitted by attorney Li Tsung-te (李宗德) on behalf of Messrs. Lien and Soong, and following statutory review by the Judicial Reform Foundation, the subsidy of NT$17,222,626 was approved.

The aforementioned amount was paid by the Judicial Reform Foundation via cashier's check. Mr. Lien Chan and Mr. James Soong also commissioned attorney Chiang Li-ling to receive it on their behalf, and Kingston Technology dispatched a representative along with Mr. Hsu Cheng-chi, Chairman of C&S Co., Ltd., to attend as a witness. The Judicial Reform Foundation is extremely pleased to have successfully completed the subsidization of the inspection (recount) fees for the invalid election lawsuit part first.

As for the remaining funds after the subsidy, since there is still an ongoing lawsuit for the nullification of the election that has not yet reached a final judgment, and whether that case involves inspection (recount) fees remains unknown, the Judicial Reform Foundation must wait until the losing party in that case's final judgment similarly submits documentation to apply for the subsidy before it can draw upon the remaining funds in accordance with the donation contract with Kingston Technology.

Nevertheless, the Judicial Reform Foundation has already begun preliminary planning for the potential use of any remaining funds. Since the donation contract stipulates that the remaining funds must be used to promote ethnic integration, human rights education, legal education, and judicial reform, and that the amount used for promoting ethnic integration must account for 50 percent or more, the Foundation will establish a public welfare trust for this portion and appoint impartial members of society to serve on an advisory committee to review applications submitted by various sectors for projects favoring ethnic integration, thereby providing project-based grants. As for the other 50 percent of the funds, the Foundation will use them in accordance with the contract for legal education, human rights education, and judicial reform. More detailed plans will be officially announced to the public once the election nullification lawsuit is finalized, subject to whether there is a surplus and when such surplus can be utilized under the contract, to submit to public supervision and ensure public trust.