Review Report on the Central Government General Budget for Fiscal Year 2022: Judicial Yuan and Ministry of Justice Sections

On February 18 of this year, the Presidential Office published the "Review Report on the Central Government General Budget for Fiscal Year 2022." In addition to setting out budget appropriations, the Legislative Yuan also adopts resolutions concerning the budgets of individual agencies.

With respect to the Judicial Yuan, 79 resolutions were adopted during this legislative session (excluding resolutions concerning subordinate agencies). Most called for written reports on policies and operations relating to the Judicial Yuan.

[For example]

Resolution 17: To strengthen public confidence in the judiciary, presidents of courts at all levels should actively exercise their supervisory responsibilities, so as to prevent repeated situations in which judges who have long violated their official duties, neglected their duties, or engaged in improper speech or conduct are not promptly warned or referred for evaluation. The Judicial Yuan is requested to submit a written report to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan and the sponsoring legislators on how to strengthen accountability for court leadership.

Resolution 19: ...... Court caseloads have risen year by year, from more than 2.92 million cases annually in 2011 to more than 3.37 million in 2020-an increase of nearly 500,000 cases over ten years, or 15%. At the same time, major judicial reforms in recent years-including the establishment of the Commercial Court, implementation of the new constitutional litigation system, and implementation of the Citizen Judges system-must also be carried out by the courts. As a result, the judicial workload remains heavy despite increases in judicial staffing. To bring the judicial workload to a reasonable level, the causes of the sharp increase in caseloads should be reviewed and improvement measures proposed. The Judicial Yuan is requested to submit a written report to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan.

The following are excerpts from the budget review report concerning the Judicial Yuan and its subordinate agencies, provided for public reference so that all sectors of society can follow judicial reform issues.

With respect to the Ministry of Justice, 67 resolutions were adopted during this legislative session (excluding resolutions concerning subordinate agencies). Most called for written reports on policies and operations relating to the Ministry of Justice.

[For example]

Resolution 16: ...... To ensure that the new prosecutor-evaluation system fulfills its legislative purpose, the Prosecutor Evaluation Committee should work to reduce barriers faced by applicants in preparing written submissions and, to the extent possible, guide or assist applicants in stating with specificity the grounds on which they seek an evaluation, so that it can be determined whether a prosecutor actually engaged in misconduct. The Ministry of Justice is requested to develop improvement measures explaining how, in procedures through which parties to a case request an individual evaluation, applicants can be assisted in clarifying the grounds for evaluation and public outreach can be strengthened, and to submit a written report to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan and the sponsoring legislators.

Resolution 21: ...... According to Ministry of Justice statistics, from January through June 2021, only one state-compensation claim involving a central government agency was upheld under Article 2 of the State Compensation Law, and only seven were upheld under Article 3, with total compensation of just NT$11,886,589. The State Compensation Law was enacted pursuant to Article 24 of the Constitution and directly concerns the rights of the people and the effectiveness of government administration. In recent years, however, the rates at which agencies liable for compensation have exercised their rights of recourse and recovered amounts have been low and have continued to decline, prompting repeated criticism that recourse rights are not being effectively enforced and that the results clearly fall short of public expectations. The Ministry of Justice is therefore requested to submit to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan a written report on "Improving Implementation of Recourse Rights in State Compensation Cases."

The following are excerpts from the budget review report concerning the Ministry of Justice and its subordinate agencies, provided for public reference so that all sectors of society can follow judicial reform issues.