2016 National Judicial Reform Movement Annual Special Issue

If Taiwan's democracy required a century of pursuit, the maturity of the rule of law demands the interactive refinement of time and human hearts before it can settle into the bedrock of culture. Holding fast to our original aspiration of deep concern for our nation's progress, we have dedicated ourselves to judicial issues for 21 years. Through advocacy, social movements, and talent cultivation, we have continuously spoken out on judicial matters. Every step of the way, we have steadfastly maintained that judicial reform must be bottom-up, and that the people are the protagonists of judicial reform!

Therefore, we decided to promote the 'National Judicial Reform Movement'—the people's judiciary, reformed by the people!

From our appeal to the presidential candidates at the end of last year to President Tsai Ing-wen's inaugural speech on May 20th promising to convene a National White Paper on Judicial Reform, the public's outcry has finally prompted the government to take active steps. We have not dared to slacken our efforts, holding numerous planning meetings at the beginning of the year, launching the website in April, and embarking on a cycling tour around Taiwan in May. The second phase of 'Analysis of the Causes of Judicial Problems' in June and July served as a warm-up for the third phase starting in October. The cumulative results bit by bit have given us increasing confidence in this 'movement approach' characterized by 'public participation, diverse dialogue, information transparency, consensus building, and deepening the rule of law.'

We have a dream for the judiciary and an expectation for Taiwan's rule of law. We hope that when introducing Taiwan, alongside its democratic achievements and economic miracles, we can also present a proud and honorable judiciary and rule of law.

Table of Contents

Process Description

Phase I: Problem Collection

Phase II: Causal Analysis

Analysis Reports

Media and the Judiciary

Difficulty Finding Livelihoods and High Recidivism Rates for Released Prisoners

Insufficient Public Legal Knowledge

Vulnerable Groups Need More Assistance in the Judiciary

Heavy Caseloads for Judges and Prosecutors Impacting Trial Quality

Dysfunctional Mechanisms for Supervising Judges and Prosecutors

Some Police Officers Are Law Enforcement Personnel Yet Fail to Obey the Law Themselves

Wrongful Convictions

Flaws in the Training of Legal Professionals

Public Perception That Court Rulings Are Out of Touch with Society

Commentary and Observation

On the Imagery and Imagination of Judicial Reform ◎Ts'ai Po-fang

Judicial Reform: How Do Netizens Participate? ◎Lin Wei-t'ing

Ten Must-Know Secrets of the 'National Judicial Reform Movement'? Revealed All at Once! ◎Huang Ying-chia

Can the Internet Really Discuss Issues? The Attempt of the National Judicial Reform Movement ◎Yü Ts'ang

Behind-the-Scenes Observations of the National Judicial Reform Movement Analysis Meeting Live Broadcast ◎Chao Wei-ling

The Difficulty of Opening a New Page Will Ultimately Leave Beautiful Traces of Continuous Adjustment ◎Lü Chia-hua

Full Text Reading

Download PDF