Reference Materials | What Lawyers Should Know as the "國民法官法" (Citizen Judges Act) Takes Effect

Related Regulations

In addition to the parent act, there are as many as 14 subsidiary acts or administrative regulations authorized by the parent act. Among them, the Enforcement Rules of the Citizen Judges Act, comprising 341 articles, is the most crucial. Together with the legislative explanations, it spans an extensive 260,000 words. Taking the chapter on preparation proceedings as an example, it contains 13 sections covering provisions such as "acquisition of evidentiary data and preparation for the investigation of evidence," "submission of arguments by prosecutors and defense counsel," and "sorting out disputed and undisputed matters." These outline the actual landscape of courtroom proceedings and serve as an essential reference for legal practice.

1. The Citizen Judges Act
2. Enforcement Rules of the Citizen Judges Act
3. Compilation of Other Subsidiary Acts

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Practical Mock Court Documents

During the two-year preparation period for implementation, courts across Taiwan held over a hundred mock trials. The full texts of the briefs and trial minutes submitted by prosecutors and defense counsel in each session have been published online, allowing both lawyers and citizen judges to understand how courtroom proceedings actually operate through these records.

Publication of Practical Mock Court Documents by the Judicial Yuan

※ Because the Enforcement Rules of the Citizen Judges Act were formulated after reviewing experiences from practical mock trials, some experiences may differ from the enforcement rules.

At the same time, the Judicial Yuan also published many documents used in litigation during the simulations (such as Pre-trial Instruction Manuals and Trial Scheduling Plans). The contents of these may also be used in future cases after revision: Judicial Yuan Citizen Judges Mock Trial Draft Templates.

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Attorneys Academy

Online Continuing Professional Education | Citizen Judges Act

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"Reference Manual for Judges' Instructions to Citizen Judges"

Published in full by the Judicial Yuan on February 3, 2023, this manual serves as a reference for judges when providing explanations to citizen judges should any doubts arise.

Judicial Yuan (2023); Reference Manual for Judges' Instructions to Citizen Judges

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Related Literature

The literature currently publicly available online and written by legal professionals is listed below. To check for the latest articles, please visit the webpages of the Judicial Weekly or Taiwan Bar Journal for full texts. Literature from other academic or commercial journals requires the use of paid databases.

Last retrieved: January 15, 2023

• Ch'en Hsin-hsü (2022); Proviso to Article 64, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4 of the Citizen Judges Act — Regarding Impeachment Evidence to Dispute Witness Testimony in Trials (Part 1)
• Ch'en Hsin-hsü (2022); Proviso to Article 64, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4 of the Citizen Judges Act — Regarding Impeachment Evidence to Dispute Witness Testimony in Trials (Part 2)
• Ch'en Hsin-hsü (2022); Proviso to Article 64, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4 of the Citizen Judges Act — Regarding Impeachment Evidence to Dispute Witness Testimony in Trials (Part 3)
• Ch'iu Chung-i (2022); An Analysis of the Appellate Review Authority in Trials Involving Citizen Judges (Part 1)
• Ch'iu Chung-i (2022); An Analysis of the Appellate Review Authority in Trials Involving Citizen Judges (Part 2)
• Li Chia-hsing (2022); Citizen Judges' Joint Participation in Criminal Trials and the Principle of Prudent Evidence Selection (Part 1)
• Li Chia-hsing (2022); Citizen Judges' Joint Participation in Criminal Trials and the Principle of Prudent Evidence Selection (Part 2)
• Chang Yung-hung (2022); On the Application of Psychiatric Evaluations in Citizen Judge Trials (Part 1)
• Chang Yung-hung (2022); On the Application of Psychiatric Evaluations in Citizen Judge Trials (Part 2)
• Chang Yung-hung (2022); On the Application of Psychiatric Evaluations in Citizen Judge Trials (Part 3)
• Ch'en Hsin-hsü (2022); Citizen Judge Judgments and the Role of Appellate Review (Part 1)
• Ch'en Hsin-hsü (2022); Citizen Judge Judgments and the Role of Appellate Review (Part 2)
• Ch'en Hsin-hsü (2022); Citizen Judge Judgments and the Role of Appellate Review (Part 3)
• Ch'iu Ting-wen (2022); First-Instance Judgments in Citizen Judges Act Cases (Part 1)
• Ch'iu Ting-wen (2022); First-Instance Judgments in Citizen Judges Act Cases (Part 2)
• Tsai Pei-jung (2022); Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials
• Hsü Pi-ch'i (2022); Practical Insights and Recommendations from Various Stages of Citizen Judge Mock Trials
   
• Honjo Takeshi (2021); Two Supreme Court Judgments Upholding Appellate Court Reversals of First-Instance Death Sentences Due to Inappropriate Sentencing
• Liao Chien-nan (2021); Caring for Citizen Judges Based on the Perspectives of Citizens Who Participated in Trials (Part 1)
• Liao Chien-nan (2021); Caring for Citizen Judges Based on the Perspectives of Citizens Who Participated in Trials (Part 2)
• Liao Chien-yü (2021); Understanding Expert Evidence Methods — Responding to the Challenges of the Citizen Judge System (Part 1)
• Liao Chien-yü (2021); Understanding Expert Evidence Methods — Responding to the Challenges of the Citizen Judge System (Part 2)
• Wang Mai-yang (2021); Appellate Trials in Cases Involving Citizen Participation (Part 1)
• Wang Mai-yang (2021); Appellate Trials in Cases Involving Citizen Participation (Part 2)
• Wang Mai-yang (2021); Appellate Trials in Cases Involving Citizen Participation (Part 3)
• Wu Ts'an (2021); Interrogation of Facts Charged and Matters Handled in Preparation Proceedings — Examining the Practice of the Code of Criminal Procedure from the Perspective of the Citizen Judges Act (Part 1)
• Wu Ts'an (2021); Interrogation of Facts Charged and Matters Handled in Preparation Proceedings — Examining the Practice of the Code of Criminal Procedure from the Perspective of the Citizen Judges Act (Part 2)
• Wu Ts'an (2021); Interrogation of Facts Charged and Matters Handled in Preparation Proceedings — Examining the Practice of the Code of Criminal Procedure from the Perspective of the Citizen Judges Act (Part 3)
• Wen Chia-ch'ien (2021); The Role of the Appellate Court in the Citizen Judge System (Part 1)
• Wen Chia-ch'ien (2021); The Role of the Appellate Court in the Citizen Judge System (Part 2)
• Fan Keng-wei (2021); On Second-Instance Death Penalty Sentencing Review under the Citizen Judge System: Borrowed Lessons and Reflections from Japanese Law
• Wei Kuo-chin (2021); On the Justifying Basis for Citizen Judges Participating in "Compulsory Disposition During Trial"
• Lin Tzu-wei (2021); Citizen Judges' Death Penalty Practice Exercise: Observations from Attending Mock Trials
• Lü Cheng-yen (2021); Exploring the Practical Direction of the Citizen Judge System through Democratic Theory — Why Does Justice Need Public Trust?
• Ch'iu Ting-wen (2021); Court Operations and Issue Analysis under the Citizen Judges Act
   
• Ch'iu Ting-wen (2019); Results and Issues of Mock Trials
• Hsü Ch'eng-yin (2019); A Study on the Act on Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials — Taking Defense Counsel in the 3rd Mock Trial of 2018 at the Taiwan Changhua District Court as an Example
• Ch'en Yü-hsüan (2019); Experiences in Citizen Participation in Criminal Trial Mock Trials
• Hou P'ei-ch'i (2019); The Distance Between Citizens and Criminal Trials
• Li I-chen (2019); Observations on the System of Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials