What Should Pass Does Not, While What Should Not Be Cut Gets Cut

Today (January 20, 2005), the Legislative Yuan voted to cut the budget related to the "professional stipend for judicial personnel" of the Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan. The Judicial Reform Foundation expresses its regret that its solemn appeals over the past several days were ignored.

Just as civil society groups stated at yesterday's press conference, the hand of politics has encroached upon the judiciary. Here, the Judicial Reform Foundation calls upon the general public to jointly condemn the Legislative Yuan's irrational slashing of the judicial budget.

Although the Legislative Yuan argued that there are legal controversies surrounding Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan drawing the "professional stipend for judicial personnel" and thus cut the related budget, the Judicial Reform Three-Act Promotion Alliance had resolved the aforementioned issues in the Judicial Yuan Organization Act and the Judges Act promoted during the current legislative term. These bills explicitly position Grand Justices as judges who should receive the same professional stipend as ordinary judges. Unexpectedly, the aforementioned bills were all shelved by the Legislative Yuan and left unreviewed, only for the related budget to be eventually cut on the grounds of a lack of legalization. The Judicial Reform Foundation believes that the public should be made aware of the truth: the Legislative Yuan "fails to pass what should pass, yet cuts what should not be cut," and the reasons it offers are self-contradictory.

Therefore, the Judicial Reform Foundation hereby calls upon the public to jointly demand that the Legislative Yuan expeditiously pass bills such as the Judicial Yuan Organization Act, the Judges Act, and the Court Organization Act. We also do not rule out submitting petitions or launching referendum signature drives, hoping that the Legislative Yuan will face public opinion squarely and no longer act as a stumbling block on the path of judicial reform.