Civil Society Alliance for Monitoring Nominees for Grand Justices (Including the President and Vice President) of the Judicial Yuan

Yesterday (the 19th), the Office of the President officially announced the list of nominees for the upcoming term of Grand Justices as well as the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan. In response, the "Civil Society Alliance for Monitoring Nominees for Grand Justices (Including the President and Vice President) of the Judicial Yuan" (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance)—composed of organizations including Cheng She, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Taiwan Law Association, the Taiwan Bar Association, and the Taipei Bar Association—issued the following statement regarding this matter:

1. The Alliance believes that the nominees for the upcoming term of Grand Justices and the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan are crucial to the quality of Taiwan's judicial reform and constitutional development, and thus should be subject to public oversight. The Alliance calls upon the Office of the President to uphold the principle of information transparency by promptly disclosing to the public the complete profiles and nomination grounds of the nominees to establish public trust.
2. The Alliance has formed an evaluation committee (Note) and established relevant organizational and evaluation regulations. It will conduct assessments of the nominees based on four major criteria: moral integrity, academic and professional competence, professional performance, and constitutional awareness. Simultaneously, the Alliance will solicit opinions from 196 professionals via questionnaires and issue an evaluation report in a timely manner for the reference of all sectors of society and the Legislative Yuan.
3. Upon completion of the evaluation, the Alliance will proactively visit all caucus groups in the Legislative Yuan to follow the process of exercising the consent power. The Alliance deeply expects that the exercise of this consent power will set a precedent by gathering public opinion through public hearings, declining visits and lobbying by nominees, and considering solely ability and integrity, thereby avoiding once again falling into the quagmire of partisan confrontation and political infighting.

List of Evaluation Committee Members

1. Evaluation Committee Members Appointed by Initiating Organizations

   Cheng She: Prof. Ku Chung-hua, Prof. Ch'u Hai-yuan, Prof. Huang Chao-yuan
   Taiwan Association for Human Rights: Attorney Wei Ch'ien-feng, Attorney Ch'iu Huang-ch'üan, Attorney Lin Feng-cheng
   Taiwan Bar Association: Attorney Kuo Lin-yung, Attorney Wei Tsao-ping, Attorney Chang Shih-hsing
   Judicial Reform Foundation: Attorney Ch'en Ch'uan-yüeh, Attorney Lin Yung-sung, Attorney Lo Ping-ch'eng

2. Evaluation Committee Members Nominated by Non-Initiating Organizations

   Prof. Yen Chüeh-an, Prof. Chou Chih-hung, Prof. Liu Ching-yi