Unfinished Judicial Reform Resolutions | Four-Year Anniversary Forum Series on the National Conference on Judicial Reform
Last edited: 2026-08-30
Four years have passed since the National Conference on Judicial Reform concluded. The Judicial Yuan, Ministry of Justice, and other agencies have amended laws or introduced new measures on some issues, but many resolutions have received little attention and still show no concrete or substantive progress. At the end of 2020, the Judicial Yuan and Executive Yuan discontinued the regular Semi-Annual Judicial Reform Report, causing these neglected resolutions to fade almost entirely from public view.
We worry that the visions set out for judicial reform are being forgotten.
President Tsai once promised to "personally keep a close eye on the progress of reform." Do these forgotten issues still matter to you?
To press the government to implement the National Conference on Judicial Reform resolutions, the Civil Society Alliance for Monitoring Implementation of the National Conference on Judicial Reform Resolutions will organize a series of follow-up forums and press conferences and continue public oversight.
On the road toward judicial reform, we have not forgotten.
Forum Series
08/26 How Can We Prevent Wrongful Convictions? Building Systems for Evidence Custody and Forensic Science
Taiwan's criminal justice system has long lacked rigorous frameworks for evaluating forensic evidence and preserving physical evidence. Misinterpretation of scientific evidence and the loss of critical evidence have contributed to wrongful convictions. The 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform therefore adopted Resolution No. 12, calling for a national Forensic Science Commission to establish technical standards, accredit forensic institutions, and certify personnel, and Resolution No. 13-4, calling for an evidence custody and management system. Both reforms were intended to prevent systemic failures from producing further wrongful convictions.
Four years later, neither resolution has made concrete progress. The Alliance therefore invited Professor Li Chun-I of National Taiwan University's Department and Graduate Institute of Forensic Medicine to speak, with Lo Shih-Hsiang, Executive Director of the Taiwan Association for Innocence, and JRF Chairperson Lin Yung-Sung as discussants, on how stronger forensic-science governance and evidence custody can prevent systemic miscarriages of justice.
Li Chun-I Professor, Department and Graduate Institute of Forensic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University
DiscussantLo Shih-Hsiang Executive Director, Taiwan Association for Innocence
Lin Yung-Sung Chairperson, Judicial Reform Foundation
- Time: 08/26 (Thu) 19:00-21:00
- Venue: Online, the event link will be sent via E-mail after successful registration
09/02 Building an Evaluation System That Listens to the Public: Reviewing the First Year of the New Judge and Prosecutor Evaluation Systems
What is individual case evaluation for judges and prosecutors? Can it effectively supervise and remove unfit judicial personnel? If so, why has it failed to restore public trust in the judiciary?
Resolution No. 36 of the National Conference on Judicial Reform addressed reform of judge and prosecutor evaluation from several angles, most importantly by allowing members of the public to petition directly for evaluation. The Legislative Yuan amended the Judges Act in 2019, and the new system took effect in July 2020. But legislation is not the endpoint of reform, and the JRF found the first year of implementation troubling.
The JRF reviewed 249 evaluation decisions or results and prepared a civil-society annual observation report identifying problems in the current system and proposing reforms from the public's perspective. At the same time, the evaluation bodies face genuine shortages of personnel and resources. The forum therefore brings together practitioners and scholars for an in-depth discussion of how the system should develop.
Huang Hsu-Tien Convener, Special Group for the Reconstruction and Amendment of the Judges Act, Judicial Reform Foundation
ReportLu Cheng-Yen Legislative Researcher, Judicial Reform Foundation
DiscussantChiang Shih-Ming Professor, College of Law, National Chengchi University / Former Member, Judge Evaluation Committee
Wu Tso-Cheng Former Judge / Special Group for the Reconstruction and Amendment of the Judges Act, Judicial Reform Foundation
Lin Yung-Sung Chairperson, Judicial Reform Foundation
- Time: 09/02 (Thu) 19:00-21:00
- Venue: Online, the event link will be sent via E-mail after successful registration
09/16 Rebalancing the Scales: Reforming the Legal Framework for Crime Victims' Rights
Crime victims have long been overlooked in Taiwan's criminal justice system. The existing Crime Victim Protection Act has been criticized for lengthy compensation review periods and procedures that may retraumatize victims. The 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform adopted several resolutions calling for comprehensive policies and legislation protecting crime victims and for reform of the application, review, amount, and payment of victim compensation.
In other words, the existing crime-victim protection system needs a comprehensive overhaul.
After sustained work by government and civil society, a new Crime Victim Rights Protection Act was approaching completion. Members of the civil-society Crime Victim Rights Protection Alliance were invited to discuss the legislative process and future direction, with the hope that the Legislative Yuan could complete the reform during the second half of the year.
Wang Wei-Chun Chairperson, Association for the Promotion of Children's Rights
Lin Yung-Sung Chairperson, Judicial Reform Foundation
Hung Wen-Ling Professor, Department of Criminology, Ming Chuan University
Response
Lu Ying-Chieh Professor, Department of Law, National Chung Cheng University
Hsu Cheng-Yin Managing Attorney, Tien-Feng Joint Law Firm
Moderator
Chen Yang Legislative Researcher, Judicial Reform Foundation
- Time: 09/16 (Thu) 19:00-21:00
- Venue: Online, the event link will be sent via E-mail after successful registration
11/06 Entrenched Problems and Reform in Taiwan's Judiciary: Judicial Appointments, Performance Evaluation, Promotion, and Discipline
The "Record of a Hundred Officials" controversy, involving judicial personnel allegedly accepting improper benefits, had continued since the previous year and remained pending before the Disciplinary Chamber of the Judiciary. Taiwan already has criminal penalties under the Criminal Code and Anti-Corruption Act, professional rules under the Judges Act, judge and prosecutor evaluation mechanisms, and Control Yuan powers of investigation and impeachment. Yet these mechanisms largely deter misconduct in advance or punish it afterward. The forum asks whether deeper reform is needed in the appointment, performance evaluation, promotion, and evaluation of judicial personnel to protect judicial independence and integrity and rebuild public trust.
Article 241 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that a public official who learns, through the performance of official duties, of facts giving rise to suspicion of a criminal offense must report them. Judges, prosecutors, Control Yuan Members, and other officials therefore have a duty to report suspected corruption by judicial personnel. But deterrence and punishment alone address symptoms rather than causes. The forum asks what structural reforms to judicial personnel systems might better preserve impartiality and public confidence.
The forum brings together former and current judicial practitioners and scholars to discuss possible solutions.
Huang Di-Ying Attorney; Chairperson, Taiwan Forever Association
ModeratorHsu Yu-Hsiu Vice Chairperson, Friends of Taiwan Association; Former Grand Justice
DiscussantChen Shih-Meng Chairperson, Friends of Taiwan Association; Former Control Yuan Member
Chiang Jung-Hsiang Attorney; Standing Executive Committee Member, Judicial Reform Foundation
Kao Hung-Ming Attorney; Co-founder, Legal Watch; Former Prosecutor
Lo Cheng-Tsung Professor and Director, Graduate Institute of Financial and Economic Law, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology; Director, Taiwan Forever Association
- Time: 11/06 (Sat) 14:00~17:00
- Venue: NTU Alumni Club, Room A, 3rd Floor
11/30 Foreign-Language Interpreters and Judicial Human Rights: Reviewing Progress Since the National Conference on Judicial Reform
A sound judicial interpreter system is essential to ensuring that litigants and other interested persons can understand what is happening in proceedings, express their views fully, assert their rights, and receive meaningful procedural protection. The 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform resolved (Serial No. 10-7): "Relevant judicial documents should be made understandable by appropriate means to persons who do not understand Chinese." Yet there remains no effective mechanism for determining whether all important documents are translated in practice or whether translation quality is adequate.
Taiwan also lacks unified standards for interpreter training, certification, appointment procedures, and fees. Although the National Immigration Agency has established a national interpreter database, access is limited to approved agencies, organizations, and interpreters, and the actual level of use is unclear.
The session features Attorney Chiu Jung-Ying, Director of the Legal Aid Foundation's Northern Full-Time Attorney Center, together with Father Nguyen Van Hung of the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Immigrants Office and Attorney Huang Yu-Chung, Secretary-General of the Organization for Migrant Fishermen's Rights (OMFR). Chiu will review implementation since the National Conference on Judicial Reform and discuss interpreter problems encountered by foreign defendants and witnesses, as well as feedback from Legal Aid Foundation interpreter training. Father Nguyen will discuss the Vietnamese-language interpreting environment and his long experience assisting migrant workers and foreign spouses. Huang will share his experience working with interpreters in actual cases before the speakers join a broader discussion.
The forum aims to assess changes in Taiwan's judicial interpreter system since the National Conference on Judicial Reform and identify ways to make the system more complete and reliable.
Lin Chih-Fang Legal Specialist, Judicial Reform Foundation
SpeakerChiu Jung-Ying Director, Northern Full-Time Attorney Center, Legal Aid Foundation
DiscussantNguyen Van Hung Director, Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Immigrants Office
Huang Yu-Chung Secretary-General, Organization for Migrant Fishermen's Rights (OMFR)
- Time: 11/30 (Tue) 19:00-21:00
- Venue: Online, the event link will be sent via E-mail after successful registration
The Alliance will also organize further events on judicial rights for persons with disabilities, whistleblower-protection legislation, environmental protection and judicial reform, and the judicial rights of foreign nationals. Please continue to follow the series and join the public oversight effort.
This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Chinese text. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.