Autumn Reading Group｜Critical Readers of Prison External Inspection Reports Needed!

Inmates are citizens wearing "prison uniforms," not "castaways" excluded from the protection of constitutional fundamental rights.

~Concurring Opinion to Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 755, Grand Justice Hsu Tzong-li

The Grand Justices declared that inmates enjoy the same constitutional fundamental rights protections; however, this should not remain mere rhetoric. Inmates are individuals whose freedom has been deprived due to committing crimes. Once deprived of liberty, an inmate's daily life is practically placed in the hands of the state, making self-determination over one's destiny extremely difficult. Furthermore, the high walls of correctional institutions not only physically isolate inmates, but also render the lives of those within invisible to society, leaving problems and difficulties occurring inside unknown to the outside world. Ensuring that the protection of inmates' fundamental rights is more than just a slogan requires the establishment of relevant rights-protection mechanisms.

The newly amended Prison Enforcement Act was promulgated and implemented in 2020. One of its key focuses is the establishment of independent external oversight committees in every correctional institution. The conception behind this system is to maximize transparency within prisons, thereby reducing human rights violations on one hand, and allowing the outside world to better understand whether prisons are encountering problems or difficulties on the other, creating an opportunity for improvement by directly confronting these matters. To implement the principle of transparency, the new Prison Enforcement Act requires prison external oversight committees to submit reports, allowing the public to better understand actual conditions in prisons and to evaluate the operation of this external prison oversight mechanism.

The JRF has consistently monitored the operation of prison external oversight following the implementation of the new Act. We have read and commented on the initial reports submitted by the first-term external oversight committees for various prisons. In November 2022, the prison external oversight committees underwent a transition, with the second-term committees taking office and successively releasing seven quarters of inspection reports to date.

We invite friends who care about prison issues and wish to contribute to read the inspection reports from the external oversight committees of various correctional facilities. Ultimately, we will synthesize participants' insights and questions and submit them to the respective prison external oversight committees. Depending on the participants' questions, we may invite formerly incarcerated individuals, practitioners, or members of external oversight committees to share their experiences, or arrange prison visits.

Online Registration

Time

• 09/14 (Sat.) 10:00 AM Online Information Session
• Every Saturday morning at 10:00 AM from September to October is a series of reading group sessions [9/21 (Sat.), 9/28 (Sat.), 10/5 (Sat.), 10/15 (Sat.), 10/19 (Sat.), 10/26 (Sat.) at 10:00 AM]
• If a speaker is invited in a given week, the end time may be delayed
  * Sessions will be temporarily suspended once the inspection reports are finished and will resume when new reports are published

Format

Online only, no physical sessions

Prerequisites

Care about prison issues and possess a curious, inquiry-driven mindset.

Recruitment Capacity

6 participants (Open for registration for 12 people. If applications exceed 6, selection will favor those who can participate throughout the entirety and show greater motivation)

Content

• Read external inspection reports from various prisons. Finally, synthesize participants' insights and questions and submit them to the respective prison external oversight committees.
• Depending on participants' questions, we may invite formerly incarcerated individuals, practitioners, or external oversight committee members to share experiences, or arrange prison visits.

*This prison external inspection report reading activity is co-organized by the Judicial Reform Foundation and the "Faint Glimmer - Prison External Inspection Report Reading Project and Death Row Inmate Correspondence Project under the University Social Responsibility Practice Plan" directed by Professor Lu Ying-chieh of National Chung Cheng University.