Seminar | Drug Trafficking Offenses: Perspectives from Substantive and Procedural Law
Last edited: 2026-08-30
Drug cases have long been a core part of Taiwan's criminal justice system. In 2020, police agencies investigated 45,489 drug cases. District prosecutors offices concluded 11,954 cases involving the sale, manufacture, or transportation of narcotics, excluding cases involving drug use, and received 14,142 new cases of the same types. Prosecutors sought detention for 2,228 people, and courts granted detention for 1,809. These cases flow into both the courts and correctional institutions: nearly half of the incarcerated population-25,937 people-were imprisoned in connection with drug cases, and 70% of those cases involved the sale, manufacture, or transportation of narcotics.
The amended Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act took effect on July 15, 2020. In addition to increasing penalties for offenses involving mixtures of different categories of narcotics, it also increased the penalties for the sale, manufacture, and transportation of Category 2 narcotics, reflecting a policy of harsher punishment. Given these severe penalties, the governing rules of both substantive and procedural law warrant close scrutiny. The distinction between attempted sale of narcotics and a completed offense has been affected by J.Y. Interpretation No. 792 and Supreme Court Criminal Grand Chamber Ruling No. 109-Tai-Shang-Da-4861. Another recurring issue in judicial practice is how statements "disclosing the source of narcotics" under Article 17(1) of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act interact with the corroboration rule when determining whether the offense of selling narcotics was completed.
To address these issues, the Taipei Branch of the Legal Aid Foundation and the Judicial Reform Foundation are jointly organizing this seminar. Experts and scholars will examine the offense of selling narcotics from both substantive- and procedural-law perspectives and exchange views on doctrinal interpretation and judicial practice, with the aim of improving the handling of drug cases in Taiwan.
Time
June 15, 2022 (Wed.), 13:30-17:00
Venue
Taipei Bar Association (9F, No. 7, Sec. 1, Roosevelt Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City)
***Due to COVID-19, the event may be moved online depending on circumstances.
Audience
General public (15 seats)
Legal Aid Foundation panel attorneys (85 seats; please register through the Legal Aid Foundation page)
Agenda
| Time | Session | Speaker / Role |
| 13:30-14:00 | Registration | -- |
| 14:00-14:10 | Opening Remarks | Chair Attorney Lin Chun-Hung, President, Taipei Branch, Legal Aid Foundation |
| 14:10-15:00 | Presentation |
Distinguishing "Possession with Intent to Sell" from "Attempted Sale of Narcotics" -With a Discussion of General Methods for Applying Criminal-Law Provisions Presentation |
| Professor Huang Tsung-Min, Department of Law, Chinese Culture University | 15:00-15:20 | Discussant Discussion |
| Professor Hsu Heng-Ta, College of Law, National Taiwan University | 15:20-15:30 | |
| Break | 15:30-16:20 |
Presentation Testing the Corroboration Requirement for Statements "Disclosing the Source of Narcotics" -Focusing on Completed Narcotics-Trafficking Cases |
| Presentation | Doctoral Student Lin Chun-Ju, College of Law, National Chengchi University | 16:20-16:40 Discussant |
| Discussion | Professor Fan Keng-Wei, Department of Law, National Dong Hwa University | 16:40-17:00 |
General Discussion
Q&A
Organizers
Taipei Branch, Legal Aid Foundation
This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Chinese text. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.