2010 Work Results

■Enactment of the Judges and Prosecutors Evaluation Act

• As the legislation of the Judges Act fell through at the final hurdle in 2007, the executive board passed a resolution confirming the legislative direction: to separate the provisions concerning judge evaluation from the draft Judges Act into a standalone bill, drafting a separate Judges and Prosecutors Evaluation Act draft. We advocated that the evaluation of judges and prosecutors should be handled by an independent evaluation foundation established outside the Judicial Yuan. We already entrusted a legislator to propose the bill and formed a legislative promotion alliance with nearly one hundred civil society groups, hoping to fast-track its passage in the Legislative Yuan.
• Cooperated with the Taipei Bar Association to implement prosecutor evaluations, conducting qualitative evaluations targeting incompetent prosecutors.
• Jointly visited Judicial Yuan President Lai Ying-chao with civil society groups, pointing out specific instances of judicial incompetence. After the handling by the Judges Self-Disciplinary Committee failed public expectations, we filed a complaint directly with the Control Yuan. Subsequently, expanding our operational scope regarding judicial professionalism and specialized courts, we joined forces with organizations across various fields—including women, indigenous peoples, labor, people with physical and mental disabilities, environmental protection, foreign spouses, and migrant workers—to establish the "Judicial Professionalism Promotion Alliance," demanding systemic reforms to address un-professional judicial practices.
• Cooperated with the Taipei, Yilan, Keelung, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu Bar Associations to conduct judge evaluations, planning to send questionnaires to lawyers handling cases regarding the conduct of judges in criminal divisions of the Taiwan High Court, compile the questionnaire data, and publish the evaluation results.

■Reform of the Judiciary System

• Researched jury and lay participation systems in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and evaluated the feasibility of introducing them to Taiwan.

■Prosecutorial System Reform

• Established the "Hunt Down Bad Prosecutors" project, filtering cases finalized with acquittals by the Supreme Court, and commissioning lawyers and scholars to conduct research in order to investigate specific abusive, unlawful, and malicious prosecutors.

■Further Reform of the New Criminal Procedure System

• The book 《Rescue the Defendant -- A Lawyer's Combat Manual at the Police Station》, co-authored and edited by our Foundation and the Taipei Bar Association after a year of editorial meetings and discussions, was completed and published.
• Regarding the "Criminal Speedy Trial Act" vigorously promoted by the Judicial Yuan last year, our Foundation expressed strong opposition by issuing statements, launching public petitions, and proposing a civil society version.
• On June 23, 1999 [Note: Gregorian calendar 2010], Articles 34 and 34-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and related supplementary provisions were passed, providing further guarantees for the right of defense counsel to meet with detained defendants.
• In April 2009, our Foundation petitioned the Control Yuan regarding Article 361 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which, after amendment, became a powerful tool for the High Court to dismiss appeals; in response, the Control Yuan issued an investigation report in January 2010, recognizing that such practices by the High Court deprived citizens of their right of appeal and demanding improvements from the Judicial Yuan.
• Regarding the nomination and appointment of the new Prosecutor-General, in addition to issuing statements, we jointly visited Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pying with various civil society groups to offer recommendations on the Legislative Yuan's review procedure for the Prosecutor-General's appointment.
• The Judicial Yuan planned to actively promote reforms to the appellate trial system under the Code of Criminal Procedure in the second half of the year, intending to revise second-instance trials into post-hoc reviews and third-instance trials into strict legal reviews. As the first-instance "substantial factual review" has not been fully established, and the adoption of the principle of single-copy indictment (docket-only referral) remains stalled, our Foundation not only actively opposed these moves but also initiated the drafting of complementary amendments for the single-copy indictment principle and the appellate review system.

■Court Observation

• Cooperated with the Taipei Bar Association to recruit student volunteers, trainees from the lawyer training institute, and lawyers to carry out a court observation and judgment analysis project targeting the Taipei High Administrative Court.
• Continued conducting court observation internship programs in courts nationwide with major universities and colleges. Participating schools included National Taiwan University, Chung Yuan Christian University, Kainan University, National Tsing Hua University, Soochow University [Note: or Tunghai/Soochow context, translated literally: Soochow/Jen-Ai etc.], National Chung Cheng University, National Cheng Kung University, and University of Kaohsiung.
• During the summer vacation, we successively launched two batches of summer court observation training courses, recruiting nearly one hundred volunteers to conduct court observations at courts across the country.

■Individual Case Rescue

• The Su Chien-he case has lasted for nearly twenty years, and the entire case is still undergoing retrial proceedings in the Taiwan High Court. The court commissioned Dr. Henry Lee (Li Ch'ang-yü) to reconstruct the crime scene, and the case is expected to conclude with a verdict before the end of the year.
• The Hsu Tzu-chiang case underwent its sixth retrial proceedings at the High Court.
• Regarding Chiang Kuo-ching, whom our Foundation rescued years ago after he had already been executed, the Control Yuan recently formally censured the relevant authorities, ordering the Ministry of National Defense to file an extraordinary appeal with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, presenting an extremely high chance for overturning the wrongful conviction.

■Attorney System Reform

• Completed the civil society version of the Attorney Regulation Act draft, planning to propose legislative amendments in the Legislative Yuan.

■Case Tracking

• Continued accepting individual case petitions from the general public, assisted by lawyers.
• Regarding Qiu He-shun, a defendant in the Lu Cheng case who has been detained for over 22 years without a final judgment, our Foundation organized a legal team to show support and commissioned scholars to publish a human rights report based on the human rights violations in the case.

■Constitutional Interpretation Support Group

• For Mr. Ko Fang-tse, the petitioner in "30 Years of Wandering Courts," the Grand Justices delivered Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 670. Based on this interpretation, the Constitutional Interpretation Support Group applied for a retrial for compensation for wrongful imprisonment on behalf of the petitioner. However, the application was rejected by the Judicial Yuan on the grounds that Interpretation No. 670 was scheduled to lose effect and therefore the current Law on Compensation for Wrongful Imprisonment remained valid. We plan to study how to proceed further in the future.

■Assembly and Parade Act Amendment Alliance

• Regarding citizens who suffered improper law enforcement treatment by police during Chen Yunlin's visit to Taiwan, our Foundation and the Taipei Bar Association formed a pro bono legal team to launch rescue efforts. The rescue targets included the Shang Yang Record Store case, the Chen Yu-ching case, the Chiang Yi-te case, the Lin Leng case, and the Huang Yi-ling case, among others. We also jointly held a series of court observation activities themed "I Accuse State Violence" with civil society groups.
• Jointly supported the November 6 Wild Strawberry Student Movement with various social movement groups, calling for the prompt amendment of the draconian Assembly and Parade Act. Professional legal opinions were drafted by our Foundation, the Taipei Bar Association, the Taiwan Bar Association (BARROC), and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights / Taiwan Law Society, and provided as a reference basis for the amendment in the form of the professional legal group's draft of the Assembly and Parade Protection Act.
• Assisted Professors Li Ming-tsung and Lin Chia-fan, who were prosecuted by prosecutors for violating the Assembly and Parade Act, by launching a hundred-person self-surrender solidarity action with civil society groups. Our Foundation also mobilized and formed a pro bono legal defense team, with over fifty lawyers responding.

■Legislative Oversight

• Participated in the "Citizen Congress Watch," demanding the establishment of a civilized, sunny, public-interest-oriented, transparent, and efficient legislature.

■Publicity and Publication

• Continuously updated our Foundation's website and sent out e-newsletters to make it convenient for the public to search for information and receive news on our activities.
• Regularly published the Judicial Reform Magazine, offering in-depth reporting on major judicial reform issues.
• Published 《Grand Justices Give an Explanation 3》 and 《Rescue the Defendant -- A Lawyer's Combat Manual at the Police Station》.
• Continually submitted op-eds to major media forums every week, promptly expressing our Foundation's professional perspectives on current major high-profile judicial issues and promoting the ideals of judicial reform.

■Organizational Roots Deepening

• Conducted volunteer training courses, inviting scholars and experts to lecture on judicial reform issues.
• Continued holding two-day, one-night summer camps for college students to cultivate fresh blood for judicial reform.
• Held the Judicial Reform Vanguard Club to expand the recruitment of judicial reform volunteers.
• Regularly hosted newly trained lawyers from the lawyer training institute to visit our Foundation, providing the latest judicial reform information and cultivating our Foundation's core supporting group.

■Legal Education Rooting Center

• Cooperated with the Tainan First Senior High School "Senior High School 'Civics and Society' Subject Center," the National Teachers' Association, and the Kaohsiung Teachers Association to co-host the "'Challenging Future Citizens: Authority, Responsibility, Justice, Privacy - The New Mission of "Civics and Society"' Democratic Core Values Integration into Teaching Development Curriculum Presentation Conference."
• Cooperated with the Taipei, Taoyuan, and Kaohsiung Bar Associations to co-host seed lawyer seminars.
• Cooperated with the Probation Officers Office of the Banqiao District Prosecutors Office [Note: now New Taipei] to co-host a series of legal education lectures for defendants granted suspension of prosecution.
• Cooperated with the Central Library to co-host the "Challenging Future Citizens: Democratic and Rule of Law Literacy Lecture Series."
• Cooperated with the Delta Electronics / Hoshang Educational Foundation to co-host teacher enhancement seminars for the youth edition curriculum of the "Foundations of Democracy Series" books.
• Cooperated with human rights education counseling groups in various counties and cities to co-host teacher training for the "Foundations of Democracy Series" books.
• Cooperated with education bureaus of various counties and cities on the "Friendly Campus Project" human rights and rule of law education and campus counseling/discipline teacher seminars.
• Cooperated with the Su Tien-tsai Educational Foundation to publish the large-print of the "Foundations of Democracy Series" books.
• Cooperated with Rotary International District 3480 and Rotary International Taiwan to co-host the "Legal Education Rooting Teaching Grant Special Project."
• Jointly hosted the "2009 Legal Education Rooting [Four Major Themes 3-Minute Creative Short Film]" selection event with Rotary International District 3480, Rotary International Taiwan, and the Department of Education, Taipei City Government.
• Invited to participate in the "2010 Civics Education Annual Conference" held in Jakarta, Indonesia, hosted by the Center for Civic Education (USA) and the Indonesian Center for Civic Education.
• Invited to participate in the "2010 International Symposium on the Sustainable Development of Citizenship Education" held in Changwon, South Korea, hosted by the Center for Civic Education (USA) and the Korea Democracy Foundation, and delivered a report sharing Taiwan's experience.
• Established the "Student Rights Code" working group and added a "Student Rights Code" online forum.
• Revised the of the "Foundations of Democracy Series" books, scheduled for completion and publication in 2010.
• Planned the publication and promotion project for Project Citizen, and conducted editorial reading groups.

■Legal Ethics Education Center

• Cooperated with Soochow University School of Law and New Learning Publishing to translate legal ethics books from the United States, Germany, and Japan, planning to publish a total of 9 volumes in the "Taiwan Association for / Judicial Reform Foundation Legal Ethics Series," which will be published successively in the near future.