Freedom of Expression / Right of Assembly

In 2004, the Judicial Reform Foundation evaluated the boundaries of freedom of expression regarding the "Countess and the Pig" case, pointing out the tension between the protection of reputation rights and freedom of expression. In 2005, the Taoyuan County Police Bureau seized the master tapes of the "Notorious VCDs" without obtaining a search warrant; the Foundation held a press conference criticizing the absurd performance of prosecutors and police in the "Notorious VCDs" incident, emphasizing that "prior restraint of speech" is impermissible under the Constitution.

In November 2008, Ch'en Yün-lin's visit to Taiwan triggered massive protests. The police restricted media filming and forcibly dispersed crowds, causing public uproar. The Judicial Reform Foundation supported the Wild Strawberry Student Movement, raising demands to "oppose the abuse of national security and police powers and review the pros and cons of the Assembly and Parade Act," while criticizing the Executive Yuan's draft amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act as merely a "whitewashed control act" that failed to genuinely protect the people's freedom of assembly.

In May 2009, on the eve of the official implementation of two international human rights covenants, the Judicial Reform Foundation held a press conference titled "I Accuse—Police State," questioning whether the government was truly prepared to implement human rights protections.

In May 2012, civic associations jointly called on the ruling party (Kuomintang) not to obstruct amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act, emphasizing that the Legislative Yuan, as the supreme representative body of the people, has the responsibility to review relevant proposals rather than waiting solely for the Executive Yuan's version.

In July 2013, the Judicial Reform Foundation and over a thousand attorneys jointly held a press conference condemning unlawful police arrests at protest sites, demanding an end to the abuse of police powers and accountability for violent police officers, demonstrating the collective stance of legal professionals in defending civil liberties.

Following the outbreak of the March 18 Sunflower Student Movement, the Judicial Reform Foundation took immediate action: issuing a legal opinion on foreign students participating in the student movement (March 2014), providing accompanying attorney services during interrogations, and publishing commentary titled "Police Cannot Become Super Grand Justices," criticizing the police's arbitrary discretion over assembly sites.

After the student movement subsided, the Judicial Reform Foundation continued to monitor subsequent judicial prosecutions, pointing out that the state's practice of exhausting participants' energy through protracted litigation is essentially the suppression of citizen expression through judicial means, and calling on courts to actively protect freedom of expression. In November of the same year, it issued a statement regarding the forced clearance of Hong Kong's "Umbrella Movement," criticizing the Hong Kong government's violent trampling of human rights.

Correctional official Ch'en Wen-wei was disciplined for writing online articles exposing actual conditions in correctional institutions. Taking this case as its core, the Judicial Reform Foundation held a series of forums to deeply discuss the protection of public servants' freedom of expression from multiple angles: including a theoretical examination of "special legal relationships," spectral analysis of the intensity of freedom of expression protection, public servant whistleblower protection, and judicial review standards for disciplinary dispositions. The achievements of this series formed a complete body of academic discourse, holding significant reference value for subsequent discussions on related legal amendments.

On December 23, 2017, citizens took to the streets to protest amendments worsening the Labor Standards Act. The police not only arrested citizens but also detained attorneys who arrived at the scene to provide legal assistance. The Judicial Reform Foundation, along with multiple civil groups, strongly condemned this, pointing out that "arresting attorneys" is a scene that occurs only in authoritarian states, and its occurrence in Taiwan thirty years after the lifting of martial law represents a severe retrogression of democracy and human rights.

In January 2018, the Judicial Reform Foundation further called upon the Control Yuan to launch an investigation; in March of the same year, it held a pre-hearing press conference regarding legislator Chou Ni-an's accusation of assault against former Taipei City Police Department Commissioner Huang Sheng-yung, demanding expedited trials and accountability for the violent officers.

In March 2018, cases related to the March 18 Sunflower Student Movement resulted in acquittals. The Judicial Reform Foundation published commentary titled "The March 18 Occupation is Justified, Speech is Not a Crime," affirming the verdict's significant meaning for the protection of civil disobedience and political speech, and calling for this case to become a benchmark for future law enforcement officers to respect constitutional freedoms.

In recent years, the Judicial Reform Foundation has continued to promote civil society's understanding of freedom of expression through film screenings and panel discussions, including post-screening discussions of films such as Disobedience, The Attorney, and Democracy in Practice, allowing more people to understand the meaning of defending human rights.