Abolishing the Death Penalty: Ch'en Ting-nan's Resolve Remains Unwavering!

Representatives of the Alliance for the Promotion of Alternative to Death Penalty visited Minister of Justice Ch'en Ting-nan this morning (August 5, 2004) to urge the Ministry of Justice to propose actionable methods and a timeline for the policy of abolishing the death penalty.

Professor Ch'ü Hai-yüan, convener of the Alliance for the Promotion of Alternative to Death Penalty (hereinafter the "Alliance"), first noted that following the Alliance's visit to Office of the President Secretary-General Su Ch'eng-ch'ang on July 22 to urge the government to actively promote policies providing alternatives to the death penalty in order to fulfill human rights protections, they were visiting Minister Ch'en Ting-nan today to remind the Minister not to forget his public commitment made on May 17, 2001: his hope to abolish the death penalty within three years.

Professor Wu Chih-kuang, executive officer and spokesperson of the Alliance, as well as director of the Fu Jen Catholic University Center for Peace and Religion, then explained that abolishing the death penalty should not merely be a slogan, but must be accompanied by action. The Alliance hopes the Minister will act upon his authority to tangibly honor the commitment to abolish the death penalty. Therefore, prior to the total abolition of the death penalty, the Ministry of Justice should review and amend the "Guidelines for Reviewing the Execution of Death Penalty Cases." Concrete measures should include: 1. Relaxing restrictions on applying for retrials or extraordinary appeals as grounds for suspending the execution of the death penalty; 2. Relaxing restrictions on applying for retrials or extraordinary appeals as grounds for suspending the execution of the death penalty; 3. Allowing applications for constitutional interpretation by Grand Justices to also serve as a basis for suspending the execution of the death penalty; and 4. Requiring the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice to proactively inform and assist death row inmates in petitioning for executive clemency.

Minister Ch'en first stated that the Ministry of Justice has not changed its policy of abolishing the death penalty, and that it has specific measures and progress in place. For instance, the Ministry hopes to study and revise offenses punishable solely by death into offenses with discretionary death penalties, and subsequently deliberate on raising the parole thresholds for fixed-term imprisonment and life imprisonment so that life imprisonment can serve as an alternative to the death penalty in the future, thereby progressively achieving the goal of abolishing the death penalty. Regarding the four suggestions for amending the "Guidelines for Reviewing the Execution of Death Penalty Cases" raised by the Alliance, Minister Ch'en responded to them one by one, expressing his view that although these guidelines are merely internal administrative rules of the Ministry of Justice, they can indeed be reviewed and amended. First, the Minister believes that applications for a retrial or extraordinary appeal to suspend the execution of the death penalty should indeed not be restricted to a single time. As for cases currently under investigation by the Control Yuan, the Ministry of Justice's current practice is to suspend executions as long as the Control Yuan requests the case files; nevertheless, the Ministry is willing to review and amend the regulations to make this part more explicit. Furthermore, taking the Hsu Tzu-chiang case as an example, for any case where an application for constitutional interpretation by the Grand Justices has been filed, the Ministry of Justice will also proactively suspend the execution of the death penalty. Finally, regarding proactively assisting death row inmates in petitioning for clemency, the Minister stated that the Ministry of Justice is willing to proactively fulfill its duty of notification, but clemency is the prerogative of the President; on this matter, the Ministry is willing to recommend that the Executive Yuan conduct an overall review and even improve the laws.

Attorney Lin Yung-sung, board member of the Judicial Reform Foundation, immediately stated that deciding a person's life or death is a matter of utmost gravity; therefore, prior to the complete abolition of the death penalty, the execution of the death penalty should be suspended whenever there is any doubt. In addition, the Ministry of Justice's draft amendments to certain provisions of the Criminal Code aim to raise parole thresholds—such as requiring over 30 years for life imprisonment, over 40 years for habitual offenders, over one-half for fixed-term imprisonment, and over two-thirds for habitual offenders. Such legislative amendments should be communicated to the public as accompanying measures for the future abolition of the death penalty; otherwise, the public will only perceive the government's harsh penalties rather than understanding the meaning of human rights.

Attorney Lin Shih-mei, executive committee member of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, further explained: Does the death penalty truly have a deterrent effect on crime? Comparing the situations of the European Union and the United States, Europe has no death penalty, yet its social security and crime rates are better than those of the United States, which still retains the death penalty—a point worthy of our reflection. Moreover, improvements to the parole system should focus on making the review of parole more rigorous rather than letting it become a mere formality.

Attorney Kao Yung-ch'eng, executive director of the Judicial Reform Foundation, stated that the Ministry of Justice should even consult with the Judicial Yuan to incorporate the primary spirit of the Guidelines for Reviewing the Execution of Death Penalty Cases into the amendments of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice should initiate or encourage empirical research on the current status of the death penalty in Taiwan. In response, Minister Ch'en Ting-nan replied that regarding empirical research, the Ministry of Justice currently lacks the capacity to conduct it, but provided that no laws or regulations are violated, he would be happy to see it happen and would make relevant data available for research by civil society organizations or academia.

Finally, Minister Ch'en Ting-nan stated that the abolition of the death penalty is already a global trend, but domestic society likely still needs education to correct public misconceptions, which requires joint efforts from both the government and civil society. He welcomed the Alliance's assistance in helping the Ministry of Justice promote the abolition of the death penalty and expressed his hope that this goal will be achieved at an early date.