2017 Judicial Reform Resolutions: Oversight & Implementation
Monitoring the Implementation of Resolutions from the 2017 National Judicial Reform Conference
In November 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen personally convened the Office of the President National Judicial Reform Conference, bringing together representatives from the judiciary, prosecution, and defense, as well as cross-disciplinary civil society actors. Following nearly a year of intensive discussions, a comprehensive set of judicial reform resolutions was adopted in August 2017. JRF continues to track the implementation of these resolutions to ensure that reform commitments do not remain empty promises.
Origins of the National Judicial Reform Conference
In 2016, public expectations for judicial reform reached a peak. Making "judicial reform" a major political platform, President Tsai Ing-wen promptly announced the convening of the Office of the President National Judicial Reform Conference upon taking office. She personally served as the convener, delegating representatives from various sectors to formulate reform proposals addressing core issues in the existing judicial system through subcommittee meetings.
The conference was divided into five working groups covering five major dimensions: victim protection, judicial quality, authority and responsibility systems, public participation, and social safety. A total of over 40 subcommittee and additional meetings were held, culminating in the concluding meeting on August 12, 2017, where reform resolutions were formally adopted.
Key directions of the concluding meeting resolutions include:
Establishing the citizen judge system, introducing public participation in prosecutorial screening, strengthening assistance measures for vulnerable groups, promoting open courtroom audio and video, enhancing transparency of attorney information, digitizing judicial hardware equipment, reforming the prosecutorial personnel system, building a pyramid-shaped adversarial trial procedure (mandatory defense and attorney representation), promoting restorative justice, and enhancing continuing education and training for judges, among others.
Eight Key Areas of Reform
Materials from the Five Subcommittee Meetings
Click on each subcommittee to access complete meeting recordings, official materials, and JRF commentary:
Resolution Implementation Tracking Records
JRF continuously records the progress of resolution implementation, evaluates reform outcomes annually, and reports publicly to society:
Official Materials and Original Documents
Office of the President National Judicial Reform Conference
Official website, including five subcommittee pages, all meeting materials, and proceedings records.
justice.president.gov.twSubcommittee Meeting Records Overview
All subcommittees on the official website, where meeting agendas, member lists, and complete meeting materials can be viewed.
View Subcommittee PagesJudicial Reform Conference YouTube Channel
Complete playlists of all subcommittee meeting recordings, viewable by subcommittee and session.
Go to YouTube ChannelJudicial Reform Cannot Stop, Monitoring Must Continue
The adoption of resolutions is merely the starting point; true reform requires continuous attention and pressure from civil society. Support JRF's work to keep the voice of monitoring effective.
2017
Op-Ed | Drug Policy Lacking Truth
From the perspective of sound criminal policy, I expect the National Conference on Judicial Reform to pragmatically and…
2017
Brief Notes: The 4th Meeting of Division 3 of the Presidential Office's National Consultative Conference on Judicial Reform
Lasting four hours, this meeting concluded the discussion on "reviewing the functions of the Judges and Prosecutors…
2017
Brief Note: The 4th Meeting of the 2nd Division of the Office of the President's National Judicial Reform Conference
Passed the resolution advocating for a robust first instance, a second instance based on post-hoc review as a general…
2017
MythBusters: Are the Individual Evaluation Systems for Judges and Prosecutors Different From What You Think?
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2017
Op-Ed | Ch'en Meng-huang's Ten Demands for Prosecutorial System Reform
For over a decade, I have worked in criminal adjudication, primarily reviewing the existence of criminal facts…
2017
Judicial Oversight Mechanisms in the United Kingdom
In the UK, there are five mechanisms related to judicial oversight: (1) Judicial Conduct Investigation Office ("JCIO"),…
2017
Op-Ed | Reforming the Judges Evaluation Mechanism: Turning a Sick Cat into a Tiger
Before the enactment of the Judges Act in 2011, restraints on the inappropriate conduct of judges and prosecutors…
2017
Brief Notes: First Additional Meeting of the First Division of the Presidential Office's National Consultative Conference on Judicial Reform
Lasting four hours, this meeting discussed whether to establish a national-level forensic science committee, a unified…
2017
Op-Ed: Enacting a Public Prosecutors Office Act to Safeguard Prosecutorial Independence
Since the inception of the National Conference on Judicial Reform, the debate over whether prosecutors are…
2017
Proposals for Reforming the Individual Evaluation System
More than five years have passed since the implementation of the individual evaluation system for judges and…
2017
Notes and Commentary: The 3rd Meeting of Division 5, Office of the President's National Consultative Conference on Judicial Reform
This meeting lasted approximately four and a half hours, adopting numerous resolutions on topics including "Review of…
2017
Decriminalization of Minor Offenses as a Method for Judicial Reduction: Defamation, Adultery, and Negligent Injury
Recently, Group 5 of the National Conference on Judicial Reform resolved that the offense of defamation should be…