2008 Work Achievements

■Enacting the Judges Act

Collaborated with civil society organizations across various sectors to establish the "Alliance for Civil Legislation of the Judges Act." From September to October 2007, press conferences were held every Monday afternoon at the Chinan Church in Taipei City, followed by a silent march around the Legislative Yuan to urge the enactment of the Judges Act.
On October 27, 2007, the "Alliance for Civil Legislation of the Judges Act" mobilized various civil groups and attorneys from bar associations nationwide in front of Liberty Square at the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, holding the "We Want the Judges Act" mass rally.
On October 30, 2007, the draft Judges Act passed its first reading in the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan. However, due to opposition from the Kuomintang (KMT) caucus, the legislation could not be finalized by the end of last year.
Continued lobbying the 7th Legislative Yuan to promote the legislation of the Judges Act, with Legislator Huang Shu-ying submitting the civil-society version of the draft Judges Act to the Legislative Yuan.

■Prosecutorial System Reform

Promoted the enactment of a dedicated Prosecutors Act to establish a prosecutorial legal framework that combats crime and protects human rights.
Continuously criticized and offered constructive proposals regarding the abuse of power by prosecutors.
Strove for adequate rights to legal counsel during criminal investigations to genuinely safeguard human rights.
Supported the formulation of a retirement/exit mechanism for the Prosecutor-General.

■Alliance for Civil Supervision of Grand Justice Nominees

Called upon the Legislative Yuan to rationally exercise its power of consent for Grand Justice appointments, and invited civil organizations to the Legislative Yuan to observe, evaluate, and publish observation reports on the review of Grand Justice candidates.
Published the evaluation results of Grand Justices nominated by the President to serve as a reference for the Legislative Yuan in exercising its consent power.
In June 2008, in response to the President's Office's supplementary nomination for vacant Grand Justice seats, the "Alliance for Civil Supervision of Grand Justice Nominees" was reactivated. The Alliance paid courtesy visits to the President to express civic perspectives, demanded a cautious nomination process, continued evaluating the Presidentially nominated Grand Justice candidates, provided professional review question banks for legislators, and conducted full-process observation of the Legislative Yuan's exercise of its consent power.

■Further Reforms of the New Criminal Procedure System

Continued to promote mandatory legal counsel presence during initial police-prosecutor interrogations and prosecutor-requested detention hearings.
Completed the civil-society version of the draft amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure, and united dozens of civil organizations to form the "Criminal Human Rights Legislation Promotion Alliance" to continuously lobby for legislation.
Guard strictly against legislative regression by continuously monitoring the amendments to the criminal procedure system proposed by the Judicial Yuan, aiming to safeguard the litigation rights of the public.
Hosted seminars including the "Symposium on Lawyer Presence During Police-Prosecutor Interrogations" and the "Symposium on Amendments to Articles 165-2, 310-1, and 366-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure."

■Court Observation

Continued collaborating with universities and colleges to conduct courtroom observation internship courses in courts nationwide. Participating schools included National Taiwan University, Chung Yuan Christian University, Kainan University, and National University of Kaohsiung, with plans to add National Chung Hsing University, National Chung Cheng University, National Cheng Kung University, and Chinese Culture University in the following semester.
Established a court observation blog to publish key written records of courtroom observations online for public browsing.
Increased the proportion of court observations at the High Courts to compare and evaluate the performance of district courts and high courts.
At the current stage, observation priorities focus heavily on the adaptation and execution realities of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers following the implementation of the new criminal procedure system, and have expanded court observations nationwide beyond the Taipei area to narrow the urban-rural gap in judicial quality.

■Police System Reform

Held the press conference themed "Mr. Police Officer, I Want to Get to Know You," continuously monitoring the National Police Agency to promote concrete measures such as requiring uniformed police officers on duty to wear name tags and plainclothes police officers on duty to present business cards to the public.

■Individual Case Rescue

• Assisted the defense team in the retrial of the Hsu Tzu-chiang (徐自強) case at the High Court.
• Following the renewed death sentence in the Su Chien-wen (蘇建和) case, partnered with other civil organizations to launch the Su Case Vindication Action Team, declaring a steadfast determination never to give up.

■Relief for Debt-Laden Credit Card Holders

• Assisted in promoting the legislation of the "Consumer Debt Clearance Act" to establish a reasonable exit mechanism for individuals burdened by credit card debt.

■Parliamentary Monitoring

• Participated in the "Citizen Congress Watch" to demand a civilized, transparent, public-interest-oriented, and effective parliament characterized by sunshine politics.

■Thesis Grants and Subsidies

• Awarded a grant for 1 master's thesis in 2008: "An Empirical Investigation of the Environmental Impact Assessment System and Research on Reform Directions for Pluralistic Governance"

■Legal Education

• "Teacher, You Can Do This Too!" was completely revised and published in 2008.
• Collaborated with schools at all levels and civil organizations to organize legal education promotion and training courses.
• Collaborated with bar associations to conduct seed-lawyer training programs. In addition to the Taipei Bar Association, this year's program included the Taichung Bar Association and Taoyuan Bar Association.
• Partnered with print media, radio stations, and television stations to promote concepts such as the "Foundations of Democracy Series—Authority, Privacy, Responsibility, and Justice" to the general public through opinion editorials or presentations.
• The youth edition of the "Foundations of Democracy Series Books" received the 2006 Human Rights Publication Award from the National Institute for Compilation and Translation.
• The citizen edition of the "Foundations of Democracy Series Books" was published between 2007 and 2008.
• The citizen edition volumes on and from the "Foundations of Democracy Series" were recommended as outstanding extracurricular readings by the Government Information Office in its 30th selection.
• Conducted the "2007 Campus Teaching Documentary Selection Activity for Rooting Legal Education Downward."
• Collaborated with Rotary International Districts 3480 and 3520 and the Chinese Rotary Education Foundation to organize the "2007–08 Essay Contest on Rooting Legal Education Downward" and published an anthology of the works.
• Organized the "Challenging Future Citizens Series Activities"—the 2008 International Symposium on Legal Education, Legal Education Teaching Workshops, and elementary school teaching visits.
• Commissioned by the Ministry of Education to manage the Human Rights Education Advisory and Resource Center and the Ministry of Education Human Rights Education E-newsletter project.

■Legal Ethics Education

• Collaborated with Soochow University's School of Law and New Learning Publishing House to translate legal ethics books from the United States, Germany, and Japan, planning the publication of a nine-volume series titled "Judicial Reform Foundation Legal Ethics Series" to serve as the foundation for promoting legal ethics education. The series is scheduled for successive publication by the end of this year.

■Publicity and Publishing

• Completely revamped our website and e-newsletter to facilitate public information searches and the dissemination of the Foundation's event messages.
• Promoted the Judicial Reform Magazine subscription campaign to broaden societal support.
• Prepared for the publication of the special volume "Grand Justices Give an Explanation 2" in the second half of the year, and planned "Grand Justices Give an Explanation 3."
• Continuously submitted opinion pieces to newspapers and periodicals to timely express our Foundation's professional viewpoints on major judicial issues attracting public attention.

■Organizational Rooting

• Held training seminars for parliamentary aides to exchange views and build mutual familiarity with various legislative offices, aiming to achieve the smooth promotion of judicial reform-related bills.
• Launched volunteer training courses, inviting scholars and experts to lecture on judicial reform issues.
• Organized a two-day, one-night college student camp to cultivate newcomers to the judicial reform movement.
• Held the Judicial Reform Vanguard Club to recruit a broader base of judicial reform volunteers.
• Regularly hosted newly admitted lawyers from the lawyer training institute to visit our Foundation, providing the latest judicial reform information and cultivating our Foundation's core support group.