January 1-October 31, 2021 Work and Financial Report | Late Autumn in Judicial Reform: When Oranges Turn Yellow and Tangerines Green

Citizen Judges Act Monitoring Project The JRF helped form the Civil Society Coalition for Monitoring the Citizen Judges Act. Drawing on the experience of Japan's Saiban-in NET, the coalition has worked toward a Taiwan-based public-monitoring network that encourages citizen participation and presses the authorities to disclose fuller records and audiovisual materials from mock trials.

• Observed 14 citizen-judge mock trials around Taiwan and collected information.
• Organized citizen observer groups for mock trials and participated in monitoring.
• Developed teaching materials for citizen-judge campus mock trials.
• 11 project-group meetings; 9 related meetings attended; 2 workshops; 10 reading-group sessions.

Crime Victims' Rights Protection Project Together with civil-society organizations, scholars, and attorneys concerned with crime victims' rights, the JRF formed the Taiwan Crime Victims' Rights Alliance. The alliance visited local branches of the Association for Victims Support to hear from frontline staff, completed and published a civil-society draft, lobbied the Ministry of Justice and the Legislative Yuan, and continued revising the proposal through internal and external meetings.

• Alliance press conferences and related media interviews.
• Established an online complaint group for crime victims.
• Prepared a civil-society draft of the Crime Victim Rights Protection Act.
• 14 visits to local victim-support organizations.
• 5 project-group meetings; 4 related meetings attended.
• 09/16 Forum | Rebalancing the Scales: Reforming Protection of Crime Victims' Rights
• 10/25 Press Conference | Protect Crime Victims-The Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act Cannot Wait

Reducing Judicial Workload and Improving Judicial Quality Project After a year of regular meetings, the project was preparing possible legislative reforms to address excessive judicial workloads, with the aim of advancing judicial reform within a healthier working environment.

Possible reforms under discussion included expanding circumstances in which prosecutors and police need not transfer a suspect; allowing parties, with consent, to submit a unified written position when evidence is presented; broadening non-prosecution and deferred-prosecution mechanisms together with supporting safeguards; expanding plea bargaining; allowing certain simplified or summary proceedings to use a record of oral pronouncement in place of a full written judgment; clarifying procedures for judicial assistants to help draft decisions; and considering outsourced transcription or translation in other case types by reference to criminal practice.

Prosecutor-Police Reform Project The project examines how prosecutors and police divide responsibility in frontline investigations, with the goal of designing a system suited to Taiwan. It also addresses the long-criticized police performance-management system and the burden created when large numbers of matters are treated as pseudo-criminal cases, including through proposed amendments to the Police Act.

• Prepared draft amendments to the Police Act and, in line with resolutions of the National Conference on Judicial Reform, studied creation of a Police Performance Management Committee.
• Prepared draft amendments to Article 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to adjust circumstances in which police, with prosecutorial approval, need not transfer an arrested suspect, reflecting practical needs in prosecutor-police work.
• Studied reforms addressing excessive workloads caused by large numbers of pseudo-criminal cases, with the aim of reducing unnecessary burdens on frontline officers.
• 5 project-group meetings.
• 10/13 Press Conference | Rank-and-File Police Refuse to Be "Utility Players"! Return Police Work to Professional Policing
• 10/16 Forum | Police Performance, Article 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and Pseudo-Property-Crime Cases

Non-Disclosure of Investigations Project The project monitored whether prosecutors, police, investigative agencies, and agencies assisting investigations complied with the principle of non-disclosure of investigations. It reported roughly 100 suspected violations, organized an online forum marking two years since the amended Regulations Governing Non-Disclosure of Investigations took effect, with 56 participants, and studied further reform in response to problems that emerged under the new rules.

• Formed a legal team to assist people whose rights were harmed by violations of the non-disclosure principle by prosecutors, police, or investigative agencies in pursuing state-compensation claims.
• In June 2021, held an online forum reviewing the first two years of the amended Regulations Governing Non-Disclosure of Investigations and discussing possible next steps for reform.
• Prepared a report reviewing implementation of the Regulations Governing Non-Disclosure of Investigations.
• 7 project-group meetings; 2 related meetings attended; 1 client interview; 2 state-compensation hearings; 1 forum.

Technology-Assisted Investigation and Communications Surveillance

• Continued participating in public hearings and, in October 2020, co-hosted a forum with the Taipei Bar Association on the draft Technology-Assisted Investigation Act, bringing together academics, practitioners, and NGOs to discuss and critically assess the proposed legislative framework.
• Established the Technology-Assisted Investigation Act Working Group on October 8, 2020. Legal and technical specialists met monthly to study comparative legislation, exchange information about current practice in Taiwan, develop a civil-society draft through collaboration with partners and experts, and track new technological and legal developments.
• 14 project-group meetings; 1 related meeting attended; 1 client interview; 1 forum.

Forensic Science and Expert Evidence

• Continued monitoring amendments to the expert-evidence provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and submitted comments and civil-society proposals on the draft.
• Urged the executive branch to implement the 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform resolution calling for a national Forensic Science Commission and to advance laboratory accreditation and standards for individual forensic techniques in order to reduce systemic error in the justice system.
• Continued developing reform proposals concerning postmortem examination and autopsy, medical disputes, forensic psychiatric evaluation, and secondary or review examinations.
• 2 project-group meetings; 1 related meeting attended; 1 press conference; 1 forum.

From January through the end of August 2021, the Complaint Center received 805 cases, including 346 through LINE, and conducted 98 client interviews.

Wrongful-Conviction Assistance

• Chiu Ho-Shun Case On August 5, the legal team met to discuss whether litigation could be used to seek relief for the torture issues identified in the mock Asian Human Rights Court judgment. On September 2, the team met with the Prosecutor-General and Chief Clerk of the Supreme Prosecutors Office.
• Su Chien-Ho Case The civil legal team and supporting organizations held joint meetings on February 3, March 29, May 12, June 30, and August 12. The legal team filed civil submissions on July 5, July 13, July 26, August 4, August 18, and September 2.
• Chen Ching-Kai Case Final civil judgments held that Chen did not have to return insurance proceeds to three insurers (Kaohsiung Branch, Taiwan High Court, No. 105-Shang-Yi-127 and No. 107-Tsai-Yi-63; another matter was settled). The case was awaiting a Taiwan High Prosecutors Office review meeting concerning a final conviction.
• Chiu Sung-Cheng Case After receiving an order denying retrial on January 11, the legal team filed an appeal on January 20. The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court held a retrial investigation hearing on May 13; the team filed supplemental retrial grounds on June 15; the court continued its investigation on August 19; and on September 8 the team filed a fourth supplemental retrial submission together with a motion to investigate evidence.
• Lo Ming-Tsun Case The legal team met on April 29 to discuss strategy, filed a petition for constitutional interpretation on August 26, met with the Prosecutor-General and Chief Clerk of the Supreme Prosecutors Office on September 2, and filed supplemental grounds on October 14. On October 27, the JRF organized the "Restore Lo Ming-Tsun's Innocence" solidarity action.
• Wang Lung-Kuan Case The legal team met on February 8 and February 26 to discuss the retrial petition and filed supplemental reasons with the final-conviction review mechanism on March 23.
• Lin Chun-Sen Case Lin Chun-Sen received the Control Yuan's review opinion on January 26. The legal team met on March 26, and a JRF staff attorney drafted the retrial petition. The petition was filed on May 4. The Taiwan High Court conducted a retrial investigation on September 2 and took the matter under advisement. On September 6, submissions were filed separately with the High Court Criminal Division and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office. The High Prosecutors Office convened a final-conviction review meeting at 2:30 p.m. on October 8.
• Kuo Chung-Hsiung Case Acquitted on retrial in March 2020 (Taiwan High Court, No. 108-Tsai-3), clearing a wrongful conviction that had persisted for 35 years.
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Human-Rights Case Assistance

• Minor-Offense Parole Revocation Project: organized attorneys and volunteers to assist 76 inmates around Taiwan in seeking relief and helped prompt J.Y. Interpretation No. 796. The combined unserved sentences eliminated for people released as a result exceeded 1,000 years.
• Completed the *Inmate Rights Handbook*, including chapters on rights remedies and complaint channels and on inspection of correspondence.
• Completed workshops for external inspection panels and provided recommendations to panels serving correctional institutions around Taiwan.

Anti-Black-Box Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement Pro Bono Defense Team

• March 23 Defense Case Held the symposium "Occupation Movements and Freedom of Expression: Civil Disobedience and the Right of Resistance" on April 10. The first preparatory proceeding was held on May 4. Subsequent hearing dates were August 10 and August 25.
• March 24 Private-Prosecution Case The case concluded, and the *Unidentifiable* exhibition was held at Wetland from March 18 through March 24.
• March 24 Fourth-Anniversary Paint Protest Case On June 3, all six defendants were acquitted, and the acquittals became final. The legal team issued a statement on the appellate acquittal on June 9.
• March 24 State-Compensation Case The June 16 hearing was canceled because of the pandemic. Preparatory proceedings resumed in Civil Courtroom 11 of the Taiwan High Court on August 20.
• April 28 State-Compensation Case Preparatory proceedings were held in the Taiwan High Court Civil Division on March 3 and May 5. The next hearing was scheduled for September 3.

• The legal team held 18 meetings: February 21, March 23, April 22, May 12, June 16, July 14, August 5, September 28, November 3, December 3, and December 24, 2020; and January 12, March 2, April 13, June 2, July 8, August 10, and September 22, 2021.
• Main Litigation Theories
  • 1. Preventive action for an injunction: prohibit the central competent authority from announcing that existing ID cards have become invalid under Article 59 of the Household Registration Act and Article 15 of the relevant regulations.
  • 2. Preventive declaratory action: confirm that people have no obligation to replace their ID cards under Article 9 of the relevant regulations.

Oversight of Unfit Judges and Prosecutors

• 10 project-group meetings; 4 press conferences; 1 statement; 1 forum; 3 court-observation sessions.
• Published a 20-page civil-society annual observation report and held a press conference on the poor performance of the new judge and prosecutor evaluation systems.
• Published the JRF's full experience from past evaluation matters to help members of the public file evaluation petitions.
• Actively submitted comments on implementing regulations adopted after the amended Judges Act, some of which were accepted.
• Monitored follow-up handling of the Shih Mu-Chin disciplinary case through press conferences, an amicus curiae brief, and public statements.
• Published a civil-society draft of amendments to the Judges Act designed to strengthen court presidents' responsibility for supervising judges in their courts and actively lobbied legislators to introduce the proposal.

Oceanic Light and Radiance-Chiu Ho-Shun's Forgotten 32 Years Special Exhibition After completing its Taipei run at the end of 2020, the exhibition traveled in late January 2021 to Zhunan, Chiu Ho-Shun's hometown. Over 19 days, 533 people visited, and six related lectures held before and during the exhibition drew 211 registrants. The exhibition moved to Taichung in early April, where it received 225 visitors and 107 registrations for the lecture series.

Unidentifiable-Seventh-Anniversary Exhibition on the March 24 Executive Yuan Violent Eviction The exhibition transformed seven years of litigation materials accumulated by the Anti-Black-Box Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement Pro Bono Defense Team into an accessible public exhibition. The Taipei run lasted seven days, from March 18 through March 24, and drew 1,212 visitors; three related lectures drew 205 participants. After pandemic conditions eased, the exhibition moved to Taichung for a run from September 23, 2021 through January 22, 2022. At the time of this report, approximately 234 people had visited, and three of five planned related lectures had been held, drawing 123 participants.

Rule-of-Law Education Working Group The JRF relaunched its thesis-grant program, published the grant rules on January 11, 2021, completed the first-stage review, and announced the first-stage selected applicants on September 30.

Campus Lecture Activities 54 sessions

• Campus Thematic Lectures: 40 sessions
  • Wrongful-Conviction Topics: 31 sessions
  • Legislation and Policy Topics: 9 sessions
• Campus Mock Trials: 14 sessions

Internship Program 197 students interned at JRF, totaling 18,547 hours

• Taipei Office: 149 students interned at JRF, totaling 11,743 hours
  • Winter: 24 students, over 3,140 hours in total
  • First Half: 50 students, over 1,623 hours in total
  • Summer: 39 students, over 4,420 hours in total
  • Second Half: 36 students, over 2,560 hours in total
• Taichung Office: 48 students interned at JRF, totaling 6,804 hours
  • Summer: 20 students, over 4,852 hours in total
  • Sunshine Web Project Volunteers: 10 students, over 1,628 hours in total
  • Second Half: 18 students, over 324 hours in total

• *Szu-Szu 2021.02* - quid pro quo: Afterword on the Minor-Offense Parole Revocation Project
• *Szu-Szu 2021.04* - Farewell to Authoritarianism: From the Streets to the Courtroom, from the Courtroom to the Exhibition Hall
• *Szu-Szu 2021.06* - Light While We Could Still Gather: Curating Oceanic Light and Radiance
• *Szu-Szu 2021.08* - Under the Pandemic: JRF's 2021 Summer Film List
• *Szu-Szu 2021.10* - The Colors of Judicial Reform: Artists, Old Su, and Fundraising Season

Facebook Reach: 497,626

Instagram Reach: 216,850

• Local Case Assistance
  • Current Taichung Office cases: Yang O-Chih, Hsiao Ming-Yueh, Tai O-Hui, Chang O-Kuei, Yuan O-Ya, Lin O-Wen, and Ho O-Liang. 
  • Cases pending review: 3
      
• Correctional-Institution Complaints
  • The correctional-institution volunteer team meets every Tuesday evening to discuss reform issues that arise in letters from people in custody. Volunteers and interns help prepare replies.
  • Cases currently assisted: progressive-treatment matters involving Wu O-Lin and Wu O-Chun, and the Huang O-Yi state-compensation case.
  • Correctional-Institution Human-Rights Lectures: 2 sessions
     
• Local Activities
  • 8/28 Systemic Judicial and Human-Rights Issues: Starting from Dummy-Account Fraud Cases - 165 participants (online)
  • Oceanic Light and Radiance | Taichung Special Exhibition-Chiu Ho-Shun's Forgotten 32 Years; exhibition period 04/09-05/08; 7 related forums.
  • Unidentifiable | Taichung-March 24 Executive Yuan Violent Eviction; exhibition period 09/23-11/27, extended through 01/22; 5 related forums.
  • International Human Rights Film Festival-Screenings and Post-Screening Discussions
    • 10/23 *Dear Future Children*: Youth Activism
• Campus Activities
  • Cooperative course with the Graduate Institute of Law, National Chung Cheng University
  • Chen Ching-Kai Case Lecture
     
• Interns and Volunteers
  • 2020: 61 interns and 11 volunteers, totaling 5,332 hours
  • 2021: 48 student interns, totaling 6,804 hours
    • Summer: 20 people, over 4,852 hours in total
    • Sunshine Web Project Volunteers: 10 people, over 1,628 hours in total
    • Second Half: 18 people, over 324 hours in total

• 12 project-group meetings; 8 related meetings attended
• Principal author of 1 statement; co-signed 4 joint statements
• Documentary Screening | *Penal. Violence. Chronicle-A Record of Protesters*: 3 screenings and discussions in central and southern Taiwan in early 2021.
• Symposium | Fifth Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Day and International Symposium Marking the Sixth Anniversary of the "709 Crackdown" - 1,540 views
• Press Conference | Online book launch for Attorney Wu You-Shui's *The Stolen Right to Counsel*

• Routine Foundation Affairs
• Daily Administration
• Annual Planning Meeting: 1 session
• Executive Committee Meetings: 8 sessions
• Volunteer Attorney Recruitment
• Staff Training: 2 sessions
• Cybersecurity Health Checks for Equipment
• Office Equipment Maintenance and Upgrades

• Fundraising Activities
• Artwork Charity Sales
• Supporter Relations