Civil Society Version of the Amendments to Articles 78-1 and 79-1 of the Criminal Code

The Executive Yuan's proposed addition of Article 78-1 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of China fails to fully reflect the intent of Constitutional Court Judgment No. 2 of 2024, as it does not adequately take into account the principle of proportionality or the factors that should be considered in determining an appropriate remaining term of imprisonment. To fully implement the intent of the aforementioned judgment, the civil society version proposes the addition of Article 78-1 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of China.

Furthermore, where two or more fixed-term sentences of imprisonment are executed consecutively and the parole threshold applicable to recidivists is applied, persons whose combined terms of imprisonment exceed thirty years but do not exceed forty years may be required to serve more than twenty years before becoming eligible for parole, and in some cases may even face a parole threshold higher than that applicable to life imprisonment. Accordingly, the civil society version also proposes an amendment to Article 79-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China. The current Article 79-1 governs the calculation of minimum periods of imprisonment for parole where two or more terms of imprisonment are executed together.

The civil society draft is available in the attachment.