Sharing Session | The Distance Between Prison Human Rights and Graduate Students

The Judicial Reform Foundation (hereinafter JRF) was established in 1995, and subsequently formed its Prison Committee in 2012 to begin engaging with human rights issues concerning prison inmates. To assist inmates, our first strategic public interest litigation was the appeal filed for Chiou Ho-shun—who was wrongfully sentenced to death—after his letters were blocked from being sent, depriving him of his voice. The administrative litigation and constitutional interpretation petition filed at the time ultimately led the Grand Justices to issue Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 756, declaring that inmates' freedom of confidential communication shall be protected.

Following the amendments to the Prison Act and the Detention Act in 2020, the JRF received an even greater volume of appeal letters from prisons. In addition to frontline case screening, responding, and assistance by researchers, many cases worthy of in-depth research are selected. Committee meetings are held every month (conducted online in principle, with physical gatherings every three months) to invite volunteer lawyers and graduate students within the committee to research, discuss, and shape directions for practical assistance. Efforts in recent years by committee members include the volunteer legal team for Interpretation No. 796 regarding the revocation of parole and state compensation litigation for inmates with schizophrenia.

However, the manpower within the committee always struggles to keep up with the appeals we currently receive. In recent years, alongside volunteer lawyers, many graduate students from law institutes have joined the committee. We need more like-minded partners to jointly participate in this vital work and, through practical cases, ensure that research goes beyond accumulating significance in academic fields to genuinely helping people and changing society.

Whether you are curious about the approach to strategic litigation in prisons in recent years, the current state of prison human rights, curious about the JRF, or passionate about prison issues without knowing how to get involved, you are welcome to come and listen to our sharing.

＊Note: The next committee meeting will take place online on Wednesday, November 27, at 19:00. If you are unable to attend the sharing session but are interested in joining the meeting, you are warmly welcome to fill out the form to contact us!

For other related information, please refer to:

• JRF e-Paper Sep 2023 "Seeing Prisons, Fighting for People"
• JRF e-Paper Feb 2021 "Afterword to the Project on Revocation of Parole for Minor Offenses"
• JRF Inmate Rights Handbook