The Struggle of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Judicial Dilemmas—Mobilizing the Public to Reform the Judiciary ("Voices of the People" Series)

Before even putting pen to paper to write a commentary on the plight of disabled individuals within the judicial system, a heavy weight sets in: is the judicial system's cruel treatment of people with physical and mental disabilities a matter of falling short, being powerless, or simply complete apathy?

Let us first examine the physical infrastructure: how many courts nationwide are equipped with facilities that allow the blind or physically disabled to access courtrooms directly? Taking the Taipei District Court in the premier capital region as an example, once someone follows the tactile paving into the main lobby, there are no further guides. Without assistance, how can a blind person reach the designated courtroom?

Moving on to software and support services: have sign language interpreters for the deaf ever been provided? Are there enough (especially during police, investigative, and prosecutorial interrogations)? Have Braille transcripts and Braille judgments ever been produced for the blind? Most importantly, are judges and prosecutors sufficiently knowledgeable about psychiatry and psychology? Are they mentally capable of fully respecting the professional expertise of social workers or psychiatrists? Can criminal evaluation funding be increased due to the budgetary independence of the judiciary, so that prosecutors and judges no longer have the excuse of insufficient funds to refuse evaluations and hastily close cases? Can we build more sanatoriums that can accept placements and provide treatment?

Based on my experience handling twenty to thirty cases involving intellectually disabled individuals over the past five years, to summarize: when police encounter criminal cases, their only response is referral; why do prosecutors or judges, during routine questioning, consistently fail to detect abnormal mental or psychological states in defendants? Why are professionals always unable to make an impact? The provision requiring social workers to be present after the amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure remains practically a dead letter (unless a lawyer is present). I have previously written articles repeatedly calling for amendments to the Criminal Code provisions regarding age-based sentence reductions and exemptions, to also include sentence reductions and exemptions for intellectually disabled persons based on the degree of their disability. I do not intend to repeat those arguments here, but I respectfully raise these numerous issues, hoping that as the National Judicial Reform Conference is convened, they will be squarely addressed and resolved, so that the last remaining shred of hope and dignity for disabled individuals is not extinguished and trampled upon by the judiciary!