Joint Statement | Minister of Justice's Unlawful Execution of the Death Penalty Makes Society More Insecure Regarding the Ministry of Justice's Unlawful Execution of the Death Penalty for Huang Lin-k'ai

The execution of the death penalty in violation of procedural justice and constitutional judgments will not make society safer, nor will it make people more trusting of the government or resolve partisan opposition. It will only make society more bloodthirsty and make the people more disgusted with the government and the political status quo. We strongly condemn the Lai Ching-te government's use of the death penalty to try to shift political dilemmas.

Prosecutor-General Hsing T'ai-chao Should File an Extraordinary Appeal for Death Row Inmates in Accordance with the Constitutional Judgment

According to Judgment No. 8 of the Constitutional Court of 2024 (hereinafter "2024 Con. Ct. Judgment No. 8"), the Constitutional Court has stated regarding the cases of various petitioners, including Huang Lin-k'ai, that "petitioners may request the Prosecutor-General to file an extraordinary appeal." The conferral of this special right of request exceptionally grants petitioners of the underlying cases an "indirect" right to request an extraordinary appeal, meaning that petitioners of underlying cases may "detour" through existing extraordinary appeal pathways in criminal procedure to exercise their right to individual case remedies. If the claims of an underlying case petitioner formally meet or satisfy the grounds for special extraordinary relief, the Prosecutor-General shall file an extraordinary appeal in their interest. Regarding whether an individual case meets the "most serious crimes," the Prosecutor-General does not have the discretionary power in individual cases to independently create standards for "most serious crimes" to conduct substantive review. The reason the Constitutional Court prescribed the extraordinary appeal as an individual case remedy pathway at least implicitly indicates that the final definitive judgments of the underlying cases are, due to exceptional retroactive effect, "inherently in violation of the law." At this juncture, the Prosecutor-General should, in accordance with the intent of 2024 Con. Ct. Judgment No. 8 and without room for discretion, file an extraordinary appeal with the Supreme Court, so that the Supreme Court may conduct a substantive review of the petitioner's case to determine whether it meets the "most serious crimes," thereby protecting the lawful rights and interests of the petitioner.

Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-ch'ien Should Implement the Intent of the Constitutional Court

The prosecutorial system should allow defense counsel sufficient time to request extraordinary appeals for the remaining 36 death row inmates, especially given that at least two of them, Chiou Ho-shun and Wang Hsin-fu, are wrongful conviction cases currently being rescued by civil society. We call upon the Minister of Justice not to execute any death sentences before the Prosecutor-General has comprehensively reviewed all cases.

The Judicial System Should Substantively Review Special Relief Grounds in Finalized Death Penalty Cases

On January 16, 2025, at 7:30 PM, multiple civil society organizations including the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and the Covenants Watch issued a press release titled "Unlawful Execution is Tantamount to Arbitrary Killing: Condemnatory Statement by Civil Society Organizations Regarding the Ministry of Justice's Repeated Execution of the Death Penalty," condemning the Ministry of Justice for hastily making the decision to execute the death penalty less than half a year after the promulgation of 2024 Con. Ct. Judgment No. 8. Huang Lin-k'ai's case raised doubts as to whether the judgment deliberation was an "unanimous decision," and the death sentencing procedure lacked a "social investigation prior to sentencing," raising concerns as to whether the individual case met the Constitutional Court's strictest requirements for due process of law.

Subsequently, at 8:30 PM on the same evening, the defense team submitted the application for an extraordinary appeal for Huang Lin-k'ai to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutor's Office, calling upon the Ministry of Justice to stay the execution under the law, while simultaneously faxing the receipt to the Taipei Detention Center and calling the Taipei Detention Center to inform them that the documents had been submitted earlier, requesting assistance in notifying the executing prosecutor.

The defense team then submitted an application for a retrial to the Taiwan High Court; at the same time, they also submitted an application for a provisional injunction to the Constitutional Court, requesting the Grand Justices to promptly issue a ruling to suspend the execution order of the Minister of Justice.

However, the Ministry of Justice still acted arbitrarily and unlawfully executed the death penalty. According to the Ministry of Justice's press conference, the Ministry of Justice still shot and killed Huang Lin-k'ai at 10:02 PM, which can only be described as an unlawful execution.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty and civil society organizations once again express their stern anger and regret. Next year marks the fourth international review of the Two Covenants. During the past three reviews, even though international experts repeatedly reminded Taiwan in their concluding observations, the Taiwanese government not only deliberately ignored them but repeatedly provoked international human rights standards by executing the death penalty, casting a shadow over Taiwan's image of democracy and human rights. History will not forget the decision made today by the Democratic Progressive Party government.

Issuing Organizations

• Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty
• Judicial Reform Foundation
• Taiwan Association for Human Rights
• Covenants Watch