Party Response | Taiwan People's Party's Response to the Seven Questions on Judicial Reform

1. To guarantee prisoners' right to vote, do political parties support establishing polling stations within correctional facilities and implementing transfer voting so that all prisoners can vote inside correctional facilities?

Supported. Correctional facilities restrict the personal freedom of prisoners rather than their civic political rights. The right to vote, guaranteed by Article 17 of the Constitution, is one of the most fundamental political participation rights for citizens in a democratic country. If the people's right to vote is to be restricted, it must be explicitly stipulated by law. However, neither the Public Officials Election and Recall Act nor the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election and Recall Act currently contains such provisions; therefore, we believe that prisoners' right to vote should be guaranteed. If limitations are placed on prisoners' political participation based on recent judgments by the Supreme Administrative Court—which took the operation of correctional facilities into consideration—relevant laws should also be amended as soon as possible to guarantee this right.

2. To eradicate torture and establish a National Preventive Mechanism against torture, do political parties commit to supporting the passage of the "Implementation Act of the Convention against Torture" in the Legislative Yuan within one year of taking office?

Supported. The Convention against Torture is one of the nine core United Nations human rights treaties. It aims to ensure that everyone, under any circumstances and in any place, has the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment in alignment with international human rights standards, which is crucial for our country's human rights legal system to connect with the international community. In 2021, the Taiwan People's Party promoted the "Human Rights into the Constitution" initiative, incorporating the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and "international human rights conventions" into the Constitution. At the same time, we also advocated that government units report on the implementation of the two UN human rights covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Building on this foundation, the "Implementation Act of the Convention against Torture" and the "Anti-Discrimination Act" are both directions that can continue to be implemented in the future. In addition, to complement the Convention against Torture, the TPP previously proposed the "Draft Refugee Act," advocating for a special law to protect the rights and interests of refugees from areas other than Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao. For refugees from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, we believe it is necessary to optimize the existing refugee mechanism, reduce the proportion of discretionary judgments by administrative agencies, and clearly define relevant determination standards and subsequent resettlement. We will continue to promote these laws in the future.

3. To prevent the leakage of personal data within information databases collected and managed by the state, do political parties commit to supporting a comprehensive revision of the "Personal Data Protection Act" within one year of taking office? For data leaks of personal information collected and managed by government agencies, should there be an independent external investigative unit to clarify the facts and establish a complete review and prevention mechanism?

Supported. Regarding personal data protection, our country's current relevant legislation on personal data protection is found in statutes such as the "Personal Data Protection Act" and the "Cyber Security Management Act." Following the amendments this May, although the competent authority for the current Personal Data Protection Act is designated as the "Personal Data Protection Commission," investigations into the leakage of personal data by public and non-public agencies still rely on the agencies themselves. Because these agencies lack sufficient skills and experience in this area, they often fall short in management and auditing. Therefore, we believe that the Ministry of Digital Affairs should integrate the work of various ministries and councils, and formulate guidelines or templates for them to follow. We also recommend that the government increase the relevant penalties in the current "Personal Data Protection Act" and "Information Security Management Act" so that various agencies will take cybersecurity vulnerabilities seriously.

4. To establish an incorruptible government and protect whistleblowers, do political parties commit to supporting the passage of the "Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act" in the Legislative Yuan within one year of taking office? For whistleblowers who were unprotected in the past, do you support providing remedial measures?

Supported. To establish an incorruptible government, the existing legal system should be strengthened. This includes adding provisions such as the "crime of illegal gifts" and the "crime of trading in influence" to the "Malfeasance" chapter of the "Criminal Code," while also establishing a "crime of obstructing judicial justice" chapter in the "Criminal Code," which contains provisions such as the "crime of judicial lobbying," "crime of jumping bail and absconding," "crime of destroying evidence," "crime of contempt of court," and "crime of threatening, harassing, or bribing witnesses." In addition, we also advocate improving the "Lobbying Act" and the "Political Donations Act," which should incorporate congressional assistants and recall proposal initiators. Finally, based on the principle of separating the public and private sectors, we believe that the "Whistleblower Protection Act" should be enacted as soon as possible with adequate complementary measures.

5. To address the current lack of uniform standards and procedures in forensic science and to prevent wrongful convictions, do political parties support the prompt establishment of a "National Forensic Science Commission"?

Supported. Our country's forensic appraisal system currently indeed lacks uniform scientific standards. This defect not only causes law enforcement agencies to operate vastly differently, but also leaves us lagging behind international forensic science standards. Wrongful convictions over the past few decades, such as the Chiang Kuo-ch'ing case and the Su Chien-ho case, have all highlighted the inadequacies of the judicial appraisal system. Therefore, I advocate establishing an independent "National Forensic Science Commission," whose tasks include: formulating and promoting judicial science policies, improving evidence quality, integrating and promoting judicial science education at all levels, and formulating and implementing accreditation regulations and licensing systems for relevant laboratories and experts. In addition, I also advocate enacting a special "Evidence Act" to strengthen the trial function centered on evidence, perfecting the expert witness system, reviewing the problems of the current appraisal system, and establishing a chain of custody and evidence custody systems after judgments become final, clearly regulating custody methods and retention periods to ensure the accuracy and legality of evidence.

6. To address the problem of improper police law enforcement, reform police education, and enhance the effectiveness and quality of law enforcement, do political parties support the establishment of a "Police Special Projects and Performance Management Commission" to formulate a reasonable and scientific performance system?

Supported. Many current police officers shoulder too many administrative tasks unrelated to crime-fighting. We believe that, on the one hand, police compensation should be improved and the criminal investigation capacity of police and prosecutors strengthened to combat crime; on the other hand, the current police performance mechanism should be reformed, and a "Police Special Projects and Performance Management Commission" should be established under the Ministry of the Interior to rationalize the performance system and review relevant job duties. Only in this way can we enhance police law enforcement effectiveness, improve the quality of transferred cases, and maintain social security.

7. To systematically prevent and reduce judicial misconduct by judges and prosecutors, do political parties support amending the "Judges Act" to strengthen the supervisory responsibility of judicial heads over their subordinate judges or prosecutors?

Supported. Following the 2017 National White Paper on Judicial Reform, although the Democratic Progressive Party did amend laws regarding certain aspects of prosecutors and judges, the overall approach still leaned toward judges, and prosecutors still require more legal amendments. For example, the current prosecutor personnel review system should be reformed toward internal and external democratization. Second, the binding effect of individual case evaluation resolutions by the Prosecutor Review Committee should be enhanced, and the Review Committee should have an independent office location to implement evaluations of prosecutors. Finally, a complete accountability mechanism should be established to hold prosecutors accountable for cases with incomplete evidence gathering or legal procedural flaws, with their performance affecting promotions and transfers.