Publication of the Evaluation Report and Questionnaire Survey Results on Unsuitable Candidates for Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan

The "Alliance for Citizen Monitoring of Grand Justice Candidates of the Judicial Yuan (including the President and Vice President)" (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance) released its evaluation results today (the 17th) regarding unsuitable candidates for the upcoming term of Grand Justices, along with the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in April and May of this year. The survey assessed satisfaction with the performance of the current President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan and evaluated the suitability of the 15 Grand Justice candidates (including the President and Vice President) nominated by the President in May of this year.

According to Ku Chung-hua, convener of the Alliance, since the Alliance announced its establishment in January of this year (2003), it has actively pursued operations upholding its three major objectives: 1. Monitoring the presidential nomination process, 2. Submitting evaluation reports on unsuitable candidates, and 3. Monitoring the Legislative Yuan's exercise of its consent power.

Beginning in late April 2003, an evaluation committee consisting of 15 members—comprising representatives from founding organizations of the Alliance and independent, impartial individuals—held multiple meetings. After conducting investigations, research, evaluations, and discussions concerning the backgrounds and materials of the 15 Grand Justice nominees one by one, the committee recently used a secret ballot to evaluate Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo, the incumbent Vice President of the Judicial Yuan, as unsuitable for the positions of Grand Justice and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan. According to the evaluation report compiled by the Alliance, the Alliance found that Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo had serious flaws in approving death penalty executions during his tenure as Minister of Justice, as evidenced by an investigation report issued by the Control Yuan on December 1, 1999. Furthermore, Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo's casual attitude toward the execution of the death penalty sufficiently demonstrates his lack of adequate understanding regarding the philosophy of human rights protection. Moreover, the results of two questionnaire surveys conducted by the Alliance among legal professional communities, such as legal and political scholars and attorneys, both showed that 19.18% of respondents were dissatisfied with Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo's performance as Vice President of the Judicial Yuan to date, and 19.44% and 25.23% of respondents respectively deemed him unsuited for the positions of Grand Justice and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan—the highest unsuitability ratio among the 15 nominees. In addition, the Alliance also noted that the content of Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo's self-written autobiography is grandiose and arrogant, which is unbecoming of the stature expected of a Grand Justice. Therefore, synthesizing the four evaluation indicators of moral integrity, scholarship and capability, professional performance, and constitutional awareness, the Alliance concluded that Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo is unsuited for the posts of Grand Justice and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan, and publicly released these evaluation results to provide a reference for the public and the Legislative Yuan during its upcoming legislative session's exercise of consent power.

Furthermore, regarding the President's supplementary nomination of Grand Justice Hsieh In-chou announced yesterday, the Alliance stated: The Alliance has consistently maintained that nominating Grand Justice candidates is a power, responsibility, and obligation vested in the President by the Constitution. Therefore, as early as mid-June of this year when Professor Fa Chih-pin unfortunately passed away, the Alliance publicly called upon President Chen to swiftly initiate the supplementary nomination procedures and publicly announce the new nominee. However, because the Alliance's two waves of questionnaire surveys have already been completed, and the evaluation committee responsible for assessing unsuitable candidates has been dissolved, the Alliance will not issue any independent opinion regarding the suitability of Mr. Hsieh In-chou, constrained by factors such as manpower and time.

The Alliance is composed of six organizations: the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Law, the Taipei Bar Association, the Taiwan Bar Association, and the Society, Huafan University (Note: 澄社 refers to the Awakening Society / Cheng-she).

Appendix

1. Evaluation Report on Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo as Unsuitable for Grand Justice and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan​
2. Survey Report on Scholars' and Experts' Satisfaction with the Performance of the Current President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan (First Wave Questionnaire)
3. Organization and Evaluation Regulations of the Evaluation Committee
4. Recusal Regulations for Evaluation Committee Members
5. Survey Results on Scholars' and Experts' Views on the Suitability of the 15 Grand Justices (Including the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan) (Second Wave Questionnaire)
6. Excerpted Edition of the Control Yuan Investigation Report Dated December 1, 1999
7. Excerpted Edition of Press Clippings and Ministry of Justice Press Releases
8. Autobiography of Mr. Ch'eng Chung-mo