2021 Work and Financial Report | As If There Were Light

Citizen Judges Act Monitoring Project JRF formed the Alliance for Monitoring Implementation of the Citizen Judges Act. Drawing on the activities of Japan's Saiban-in Net, the Alliance seeks to develop a Taiwan version of that model, mobilize public participation, and encourage authorities to release more complete judicial documents and data.

• Participated in drafting regulations on the protection of personal data of citizen judges, alternate citizen judges, and candidate citizen judges
• Participated in drafting subsidiary regulations concerning the organization, appointment, and evaluation of personnel for the committee evaluating the effectiveness of the citizen-participation trial system
• Attended and observed 14 sessions of local moot courts and collected information
• Assembly and participation in monitoring by the citizen judge moot court citizen observation team
• Research and development of campus moot court citizen judge teaching materials
• Held 14 working-group meetings; attended 10 related meetings; held 2 workshops and 10 reading-group sessions

Crime Victims' Rights Protection Project Together with civil-society organizations, scholars, and lawyers concerned with crime victims' issues, JRF formed the Crime Victims' Rights Protection Alliance. The Alliance visited local branches of the Association for Victims Support to hear from frontline workers, completed and published a civil-society draft, actively met with the Ministry of Justice and legislators to advocate for it, and continued refining the draft through multiple internal and external meetings.

• Alliance press conference and related media interviews
• Established an online group for crime victim grievances
• Formulation of the civil version of the Draft Crime Victim Rights Protection Act
• Visited crime victims protection institutions 14 sessions
• Held 7 working-group meetings; attended 4 related meetings
• 09/16 Forum | Correcting the Imbalanced Scale: Discussing Amendments to Crime Victims' Rights Protection
• 10/25 Press Conference | Protecting Crime Victims: Legislation of the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act Cannot Wait

Judicial Burden Reduction & Judicial Quality Enhancement Project After a year of regular meetings and study, the working group is preparing proposed legislative reforms to address excessive judicial workloads and advance judicial reform within a sound working environment.

Possible reforms include: broadening the circumstances in which prosecutors and police need not transfer an arrested suspect; allowing consolidated written comments on evidence with the parties' consent; broadening the scope of non-prosecution and deferred prosecution, together with supporting measures; broadening the scope of plea bargaining and related safeguards; allowing a record of oral pronouncement to substitute for a written judgment in certain summary or simplified proceedings; developing procedures for judicial assistants to help draft judicial decisions; and extending outsourced transcription, currently used in criminal cases, to other case types.

A seminar was scheduled for July 7, 2022.

Police-Prosecutor Reform Project The working group examined how frontline investigative work should be divided between prosecutors and police, with the aim of designing a system suited to Taiwan. It also studied institutional reforms addressing the long-criticized police performance system and the excessive workload created by matters treated as criminal cases despite lacking genuine criminal substance, including draft amendments to portions of the Police Act.

• Drafted partial amendments to the "Police Act", studying the Police Performance Management Committee in accordance with the resolution of the National Conference on Judicial Reform.
• Drafted amendments to Article 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure concerning non-transfer of arrested suspects, adjusting the circumstances in which police need not transfer a suspect to meet practical prosecutorial and police needs.
• Studied reforms to address the excessive workload imposed on frontline police officers by large numbers of matters treated as criminal cases despite lacking genuine criminal substance.
• Held 6 working-group meetings
• 10/13 Press Conference | Rank-and-File Police Refuse to Be "Tools"! Returning Police Affairs to Professionalism
• 10/16 Forum | Discussing Police Performance and the Amendment of Article 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Pseudo-Property Crime Issues
• 11/30 Press Conference | Opposing Police Officer Exams That Discriminate Against Rank-and-File Officers-Reform of the Police Grade Three Special Exam Must Be Fair

Non-Disclosure of Investigation Project JRF monitored whether frontline investigative agencies and agencies assisting investigations complied with the principle of non-disclosure of investigations and reported approximately 100 suspected violations. It also held an online forum marking the second anniversary of the Regulations Governing Non-Disclosure of Investigations, with 56 participants, and began studying further institutional reforms to address problems that emerged after the new rules took effect.

• Formed a pro bono legal team to assist people whose rights were harmed by violations of the principle of non-disclosure of investigations by prosecutors, police, investigative agencies, or other authorities in seeking state compensation.
• In June 2021, JRF held an online forum reviewing the first two years of implementation of the Regulations Governing Non-Disclosure of Investigations and considering directions for the next round of amendments.
• Wrote a review report on the implementation of the "Directions for Investigation Non-Disclosure".
• Held 9 working-group meetings; attended 3 related meetings; conducted 1 case interview; appeared at 2 hearings in state-compensation litigation; and held 1 forum.

Technology-Assisted Investigation and Wiretapping System

• JRF participated in a series of public hearings and, in October 2020, co-hosted a forum on the draft Technology-Assisted Investigation Act with the Taipei Bar Association, bringing together academics, practitioners, and NGOs to discuss and critically assess the proposed legislative direction.
• On October 8, 2020, JRF established the Technology-Assisted Investigation Act Working Group, which met monthly with members of the legal and technology communities to review legislation from other jurisdictions, exchange information on practice in Taiwan, track recent developments, and-through collaboration among partners and experts-develop a corresponding civil-society draft.
• Held 14 working-group meetings; attended 1 related meeting; and organized 3 Law and Technology Salon forums.
• Law and Technology Salon Forums
  • 10/06 Understanding Technology-Assisted Investigative Techniques
  • 11/17 Developments in U.S. Technology-Assisted Investigation Practice: The Chorus of Voices After Carpenter
  • 12/22 Discussing the Technology-Assisted Investigation Act Through the Lens of Information-Security Governance

Forensic Science and Appraisal

• Continued to monitor the amendment of the appraisal chapter of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and proposed opinions or a civil version targeting draft contents.
• Urged administrative authorities, in accordance with the conclusions of the 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform, to establish a Forensic Science Commission as soon as possible and promote laboratory accreditation and technical standards for individual forensic disciplines, in order to reduce systemic judicial errors.
• Continued developing reform proposals concerning systems for postmortem examination and autopsy, medical disputes, psychiatric evaluation, and re-evaluation.
• Held 4 working-group meetings; attended 1 related meeting; held 1 press conference and 1 forum
  • 8/27 Online Forum | How Can Wrongful Convictions Be Prevented? Building Systems for Evidence Custody and Forensic Science

In 2021, the Complaint Center received 978 complaints in total, including 439 submitted through LINE. There were 86 complaint interviews and 35 correctional-institution complaint matters.

Wrongful Conviction Rescue

• Chiu Ho-Shun Case On 8/5, the legal team met to discuss whether litigation could be brought to seek remedies for the torture issues identified in the judgment of the Mock Asian Human Rights Court. On 9/2, the team visited the Prosecutor-General and Chief Clerk of the Supreme Prosecutors Office. On 11/18, it submitted an opinion urging review of controversial final death-penalty convictions.
• Su Chien-Ho Case In 2021, joint meetings of the civil legal team and support group in the Su Chien-Ho case were held on 2/3, 3/29, 5/12, 6/30, and 8/12. The legal team filed civil submissions on 7/5, 7/13, 7/26, 8/4, 8/18, and 9/2. A civil preparatory hearing was held on 12/3. At the 4/15 hearing, Professor Li Chun-Yi was called as a reviewing expert regarding Henry Lee's crime-scene reconstruction expert report.
• Chen Ching-Kai Case The civil judgment became final, holding that the insurance proceeds did not have to be repaid to the three insurance companies. In the criminal matter, following a decision by the Review Committee on Final Criminal Convictions of the High Prosecutors Office, a prosecutor from the Kaohsiung Branch of the High Prosecutors Office filed for a retrial. On 2022/4/1, the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court held an investigative hearing on the retrial petition.
• Chiu Sung-Cheng Case On 1/11/2021, the team received the ruling denying the retrial petition and filed an interlocutory appeal on 1/20. A hearing on the retrial petition was held in Courtroom No. 9 of the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court on 5/13. The legal team filed a further supplemental brief in support of the criminal retrial petition on 6/15. Proceedings continued before the Kaohsiung Branch on 8/19. On 9/8, the team filed its fourth supplemental brief in support of the criminal retrial petition together with a motion to investigate evidence.
• Lo Ming-Tsun Case
  • Constitutional review: On 8/26, an application for constitutional review of Article 58 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was filed. Supplemental grounds were filed on 10/14 and 11/21. On 12/10, the Grand Justices issued a decision declining to entertain the application in Case No. 110-Hsien-Er-378.
  • Extraordinary appeal: On 9/2, the team visited the Prosecutor-General and Chief Clerk of the Supreme Prosecutors Office. Following the Prosecutor-General's suggestion, assistance was sought from Control Yuan members in obtaining materials. On 11/8, a press conference was held to announce the filing of the extraordinary appeal. On 11/23, a letter from the Supreme Prosecutors Office stated that the requirements for an extraordinary appeal were not met and that the matter could not be processed.
  Press Conferences:
  • 10/27 Clearing Lo Ming-Tsun's Name | 2021 Autumn-Winter Campaign, Part I: Returning to Where the Story Began
  • 11/08 Despite Every Obstacle, We Must Clear Lo Ming-Tsun's Name | Press Conference Urging the Prosecutor-General to File Another Extraordinary Appeal and Launching a Solidarity Petition
  • Clearing Lo Ming-Tsun's Name | Recruitment of Project Volunteers for the Lo Ming-Tsun Case
• Wang Lung-Chang Case In 2021, the legal team met on 2/8 and 2/26 to discuss the retrial petition. On 3/23, it filed supplemental grounds with the final-conviction review mechanism. On 12/28, the High Prosecutors Office convened a review meeting.
• Lin Chun-Sen Case In 2021, Lin Chun-Sen received the Control Yuan's review opinion on 1/26. On 3/26, the legal team met and a JRF staff attorney drafted the criminal retrial petition. The petition was filed on 5/4. On 9/2, the High Court conducted proceedings on the retrial petition and indicated that the matter would be taken under advisement. On 9/6, a submission and supplemental grounds for review of the final conviction were filed with the High Court's criminal division and the High Prosecutors Office, respectively. On 10/8, the High Prosecutors Office convened a review meeting on the final conviction. On 12/1, a further submission was filed in that review proceeding.

Assistance in Human-Rights Violation Cases

• Revocation of parole for minor offenses: JRF organized lawyers and volunteers to assist 76 incarcerated people across Taiwan in seeking relief. The effort helped bring about J.Y. Interpretation No. 796; the combined remaining sentences of those released as a result exceeded 1,000 years.
• Completed the Inmates' Rights Manual: Rights Relief and Feedback Section, and Mail Inspection Section.
• Completed workshops for external inspection panels and provided recommendations to external inspection panels at correctional institutions across Taiwan.

Prison Grievances Assisted incarcerated people subjected to unlawful or improper disciplinary actions or management measures in correctional institutions, and examined whether the Prison Act, Detention Act, or other correctional laws and regulations were unconstitutional, unlawful, or improper.

• Three-strikes rule: research in progress
• Incarcerated people's voting rights: an application for constitutional review was filed on 2021/1/13 and declined on 3/26.
• Wu O-Lin Case - Progressive-treatment point-deduction matter
• Hsu O-Chi Case - Delay in medical parole
• Chen O-Pin Case - Prison work compensation complaint
• Shen O-Ting Case - Invalid provisions of the now-repealed Statute for Punishment of Banditry
• Lu O-Yuan Case - Mail inspection and solitary confinement | Petition submitted to the Control Yuan
• Lu O-Feng Case - Violation involving use of the call button
• Chen O-Chun Case - Juvenile observation and rehabilitation; sentenced after reoffending five years later
• Chou O-Ming and Hung O-Yi Cases | Minimum parole threshold involving amendments to Article 79-1 of the Criminal Code and the application of old and new law across three periods: 1994, 1997, and 2006
• Hsiao O-Chun Case - Request for prison work and the legally required one hour of exercise
• Wu O-Chung Case - Certain three-strikes cases in which the aggregate sentence was reduced after resentencing, but the parole-eligibility date was pushed back

Anti-Black Box CSSTA Case Volunteer Lawyer Team

• 323 Defense Case On 4/10, JRF held the "
• Occupation Movements and Freedom of Expression: Civil Disobedience and the Right of Resistance " seminar. The first preparatory proceeding was held on 5/4. Subsequent hearings were scheduled for 8/10 and 8/25. On 2021/10/8, the court ruled that the incitement charge would not be entertained, while the conviction for damaging property in the custody of a public official was upheld. On 11/24, a criminal appellate brief was filed for Li O-Ling; on 11/29, one was filed for Hsu O-Chih.
• March 24 Private-Prosecution Case The case has concluded. The Taipei Unidentifiable exhibition was held on 3/18, followed by the Taichung exhibition on 9/25.
• March 24 Fourth-Anniversary Paint-Splattering Case On 6/3, all six defendants were acquitted by a final judgment. On 6/9, the legal team issued a statement on the acquittals on appeal.
• March 24 State Compensation Case On 8/20, preparatory proceedings continued in Civil Courtroom No. 11 of the High Court. Oral arguments were held on 12/17, and judgment was entered in our favor on 2022/1/27.

• Preparatory proceedings were held in the High Court's civil division on 3/3 and 5/5 and continued on 9/3 and 11/3.
• eID Smart ID Card Litigation Pro Bono Legal Team
  • The legal team held 8 meetings in 2021, on 1/12, 3/2, 4/13, 6/2, 7/8, 8/10, 9/22, and 11/24.
  • Key Litigation Strategies
• I. Requirements for a preventive action for nonfeasance: prohibit the central competent authority from announcing that existing identification cards are invalid pursuant to Article 59 of the Household Registration Act and Article 15 of the Regulations.

II. Preventive declaratory action: confirm that individuals have no obligation to replace their identification cards (Article 9 of the Regulations).

• On 6/28, the legal team received the opposing party's Supplemental Answer (VII) in the administrative litigation. It stated that draft amendments to the Regulations Governing the Format, Content, Issuance, and Management of Photographic Image Files for National Identification Cards and Household Certificates had been announced on 6/8, deleting provisions concerning digital identification cards and revising the rules to address the existing paper national identification card system. It also stated that the "replacement plan" remained suspended and would be revised, including its implementation steps, anticipated schedule, and funding and resource arrangements, in light of the content of future special legislation.
• Monitoring Unfit Judges/Prosecutors
• 11 working-group meetings; 4 press conferences; 3 statements; 1 forum; 3 court-observation sessions.
• In response to the poor performance of the new judge and prosecutor evaluation system, JRF published a 20-page civil-society annual observation report and held a press conference.
• JRF published its complete experience handling past evaluation matters to help members of the public file evaluation petitions.
• When subsidiary regulations were revised following passage of the amended Judges Act, JRF actively submitted comments, some of which were adopted.

× Organizational Advocacy

Oceanic Light and Radiance: Chiu Ho-Shun's Forgotten 32 Years After completing the Taipei exhibition at the end of 2020, the exhibition traveled in late January 2021 to Zhunan, A-Shun's hometown. Over its 19-day run, 533 people visited, and 6 related lectures held before and during the exhibition drew 211 registrants. In early April, the exhibition moved to Taichung, where 225 people visited and 107 registered for the lecture series. In April 2022, the exhibition will travel to Tainan, inviting people in Tainan to take an interest in the case.

Unidentifiable: Seventh-Anniversary Exhibition on the March 24 Executive Yuan Violent Eviction The litigation materials accumulated over seven years by the Anti-Black-Box CSSTA Pro Bono Legal Team were transformed into exhibition materials. The exhibition ran from 3/18 to 3/24 for 7 days, attracting 1,212 visitors; 3 related lectures during the exhibition drew 205 participants. After the pandemic eased, the exhibition traveled to Taichung, where it ran from 2021/9/23 to 2022/1/22. It drew 232 visitors, including 7 guided groups, and 5 related lectures drew a combined 194 in-person and online participants.

Rule-of-Law Education Working Group JRF restarted its research-paper grant program and announced the grant rules on 2021/1/11. The first cohort of recipients was announced on 2022/1/11, and an award ceremony and paper presentation was held on 3/19. Priority topics for the second round of grants were also announced on 2022/1/11.

• Campus Lecture Activities
  • 83 sessions
  • Campus Thematic Lectures: 66 sessions
• Case Assistance: 46 sessions

Policy Issues: 34 sessions Campus Mock Trials: 17 sessions

• Internship Program
  • 197 student interns, totaling 18,547 hours
  • Taipei Office: 149 student interns, totaling 11,743 hours
  • Winter break: 24 interns, more than 3,140 hours in total
  • First half: 50 interns, more than 1,623 hours in total
• Summer: 39 interns, more than 4,420 hours in total
  • Second half: 36 interns, more than 2,560 hours in total
  • Taichung Office: 48 student interns, totaling 6,804 hours
  • Summer: 20 interns, more than 4,852 hours in total

• Szu-Szu Newsletter
• 4,349 subscribers; 6 issues published in 2021, with 417 new subscribers compared with the previous year.
• Szu-Szu 2021.02 | Quid Pro Quo: Afterword to the Project on Revocation of Parole for Minor Offenses
• Szu-Szu 2021.04 | Farewell to Authoritarianism: From the Streets to the Courtroom, from the Courtroom to the Exhibition
• 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

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  • Taichung Office 
  • Local Case Assistance
     
• Current open cases at the Taichung Office: Yang O-Chih, Hsiao Ming-Yueh, Dai O-Hui, Chang O-Kuei, Yuan O-Ya, Lin O-Wen, and Ho O-Liang
  • Cases pending review: 3
      
• Monitoring Actions
  • Indictment review: 80 cases reviewed, 9 placed under monitoring, and 6 pending review. Of the monitored cases, 4 involve dummy accounts.
  • Correctional-Institution Complaints
  • The correctional-institution volunteer team meets every Tuesday evening to discuss prison-reform issues arising from correspondence with incarcerated people; volunteers and interns draft the replies.
     
• Cases currently being 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 Forum on Systemic Judicial Human-Rights Problems: Starting from Dummy-Account Fraud Cases: 165 participants (online)
  • Oceanic Light and Radiance | Taichung Exhibition - Chiu Ho-Shun's Forgotten 32 Years, 04/09-05/08; 7 related forums
    • Unidentifiable | Taichung - March 24 Executive Yuan Violent Eviction, 09/23-11/27, extended to 01/22; 5 related forums
    • Taiwan International Human Rights Film Festival - Screenings and Post-Screening Discussions
    • 10/23 Dear Future Children - Youth Action
  • 11/06 Aswang - Drug Safety
     
• 11/20 Sieged: The Press vs. Denialism - The Responsibilities of the News Media
  • 11/21 Attack on Citizens New Book Event: 22 in-person and online participants
  • Campus Activities
     
• Collaborative 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 interns, more than 4,852 hours in total

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• International Networking
• Held 15 working-group meetings and attended 17 related meetings
• Lead-authored 1 statement and joined 4 joint statements
• Documentary Screenings | Torture, Violence, Chronicle: Stories of Activists - 3 screening-and-discussion sessions held in central and southern Taiwan on 2021/1/8, 1/9, and 1/10.
• Seminar | 7/09 Fifth Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Day and the Sixth Anniversary of the "709 Crackdown": 1,540 views
• Press Conference | 7/22 Online Book Launch for Attorney Wu You-Shui's The Stolen Right to Counsel

  • International Seminar | 12/11 Civil Society under Authoritarian Rule: Action, Dialogue, and Strategy: 38 participants
    Exhibitions |

  • Taipei 01/09-01/17 | Only Death is Death The exhibition featured 46 art-therapy works created in response to trauma from Hong Kong's social movements, together with protest photographs by two photographers, portraying the experiences and conditions of Hongkongers in Hong Kong during and after social conflict. Multiple group visits were arranged, and the exhibition attracted approximately 1,000 visitors.
    Kaohsiung 01/30-03/14

• 《Be Water, Be Fire, Be a Voice: Actions in the Everyday Ordinary》
  • This project collaborated with a local comics exhibition and a news-photography exhibition to display symbols and artworks from Hong Kong's street movement. Through artworks, photographs, and protest objects, it told the story of Hong Kong over the preceding two years. With joint promotion by the co-exhibitors, the exhibition spanning holiday periods, and multiple group visits, it drew nearly 10,000 visitors. Podcast | In collaboration with visually impaired podcasters, the physical exhibition was converted into a virtual online audio exhibition so that people unable to attend in person could still learn about the exhibition's content and ideas online.
  • Episode 70 Be Water, Be Fire, Be a Voice: Actions in the Everyday Ordinary

• Episode 71

• Away from Home, My Heart Remains with My City Publication | JRF co-edited The Bloodless Battle: The Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Resistance with the Taiwan Labour Front and was responsible for the chapter on Hong Kong's nonviolent resistance since 2019, analyzing in writing the forms and causes of civil disobedience in Hong Kong. Kaohsiung 11/13-11/14

• Theatre of Empowerment Workshop

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• Administration and General Affairs
• Routine Organizational Affairs
• Daily Administrative Matters
• Annual Planning Meeting: 1 session
• Standing Executive Committee Meetings: 9 sessions
• Volunteer Lawyer Recruitment and Visits by Lawyer-Training Program Trainees: 3 events
• Training: 4 sessions

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• Resource Development
• Fundraising Activities