A Prosecutor's Office Head Who Fails to Manage: Who Will Keep Them in Check? Press Conference on the Case of Prosecutor Chuang K'o-hui of the Changhua District Prosecutors Office

Prosecutor Chuang K'o-hui of the Changhua District Prosecutors Office drew public criticism for improperly inspecting the body of a female defendant, prompting the Minister of Justice to order a thorough investigation. This is not her first instance of misconduct; last year, she made headlines after shouting at a judge during a court session that the judge's mind was unclear. Following the exposure of this latest incident, the media received numerous complaints from citizens alleging that while handling a fraud case, she berated a Vietnamese spouse by saying 'Vietnamese women love to cheat Taiwanese men out of their money,' constituting racial discrimination; and while handling a case of injury resulting in death, she told the victim's son, 'Your dad was going to die sooner or later anyway,' causing secondary trauma to the bereaved family. The problem is that in none of these cases was Prosecutor Chuang referred to the Prosecutor Evaluation Commission for external oversight; everything was handled internally by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office.

According to the 'Statistical Analysis and Compilation Table of Investigations into Prosecutors Commencing Court Sessions on Time and Court Demeanor' published by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, in 2018 the Changhua District Prosecutors Office sent out and retrieved 1,088 questionnaires, yet not a single questionnaire reflected poor court demeanor by a prosecutor. Furthermore, among the 677 cases sampled by the office, no citizen was found to have reported poor prosecutor court demeanor. Yet multiple incidents involving citizen complaints against Prosecutor Chuang have now come to light, inevitably raising doubts about the authenticity of the Changhua District Prosecutors Office's questionnaires and sample surveys.

As recorded in the table above, two citizens lodged individual complaints in 2018 regarding poor prosecutor court demeanor. However, data published by the Prosecutor Evaluation Commission shows that the commission has not accepted a single case requested for evaluation by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office since its establishment. This shows that the complaints of these two citizens were also handled internally by the office, lacking external oversight. Prosecutor Chuang's unrepentant attitude highlights the complete failure of the prosecutorial supervision mechanism under the Judges Act, and the utter helplessness regarding a chief prosecutor who cannot keep prosecutors in line. In this regard, our Foundation makes the following four appeals:

1. The Ministry of Justice should immediately strengthen prosecutors' awareness of gender equality

   Following the lenient sentence given last year to Judge Ch'en for sexually harassing a female assistant, and in order to quell public outrage, Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tsung-li led all judges and judicial system personnel in receiving gender equality education to declare the prevention of sexual harassment. The Ministry of Justice clearly failed to learn from the Judicial Yuan's experience, as it has yet to strengthen prosecutors' awareness of gender equality, which is why Prosecutor Chuang initiated an 'inspection method' infringing upon women's bodily autonomy with complete unawareness of wrongdoing. In addition to investigating whether this case constitutes sexual harassment or illegal dereliction of duty, the Ministry of Justice—led specifically by Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang—should lead all prosecutors and prosecutorial system personnel in receiving gender equality education to fundamentally eradicate the recurrence of similar incidents.

2. Chief Prosecutor Hsu Hsi-hsiang of the Changhua District Prosecutors Office should be held accountable

   The Ministry of Justice should not only investigate Prosecutor Chuang, but also investigate whether Chief Prosecutor Hsu Hsi-hsiang's failure to refer Prosecutor Chuang to the Prosecutor Evaluation Commission for external oversight in accordance with the Judges Act constitutes dereliction of duty. Furthermore, it must be investigated whether the 2018 Changhua District Prosecutors Office questionnaires and sample surveys on court demeanor were faithfully recorded, and whether citizen grievances were subject to official supervisory duties in accordance with the law. Only through thorough investigation and strict accountability can the prosecutorial administrative system be urged to fulfill its function of official supervision and prevent officials from shielding one another.

3. Publicly soliciting individual cases of improper questioning by Prosecutor Chuang K'o-hui

   Media reports indicate that Prosecutor Chuang K'o-hui's handling of cases with poor demeanor is not an isolated incident. We hereby publicly invite the public to submit grievances to civil society organizations regarding individual cases of improper questioning by Prosecutor Chuang K'o-hui, after which the Judicial Reform Foundation will petition for individual case evaluation under the Judges Act to initiate external oversight and protect public rights and interests.

   Grievance Hotlines: Taipei Office 02-25421958, Taichung Office 04-23292371

4. Expedite the deliberation of the draft amendments to the Judges Act strengthening external evaluation and official supervision

   Civil society has already drafted amendments—which have been proposed by legislators—to address the failure of the external evaluation mechanism under the Judges Act and the lack of official supervision by judicial heads. However, the official version of the amendment draft has yet to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation. Civil society organizations hereby warn the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice not to use any pretext to delay the amendment of the Judges Act; otherwise, not only will judges and prosecutors fail to win public trust, but the judicial reform promised by President Tsai Ing-wen will also lose the high level of social support it originally enjoyed.

Attachments

Speech by Garden of Hope Foundation / Advocacy Specialist Chuang Tai-fu

Attending Representatives

Chuang Tai-fu / Advocacy Specialist, Garden of Hope Foundation
Chen Li-chen / Specialist, Awakening Foundation
Wang Chiu-lan / Director, Modern Women's Foundation
Lin Yung-sung / Chairperson, Judicial Reform Foundation
Hsiao I-min / Office Director, Judicial Reform Foundation
Huang Ying-chia / Legal Director, Judicial Reform Foundation

Press Contact

Attorney Huang Ying-chia, Judicial Reform Foundation (02)2523-1178