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Reformers urge jury
system
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Introducing a jury system would be a vital judicial reform that will eliminate
corrupt and incompetent judges, judicial reform advocates said yesterday.
Citing the example of Hu -Ch--ing-pin (J´º±l), a judge at the Taichung branch of
the High Court who was recently accused of asking for a bribe of NT$4.5 million
(US$150,000) from a defendant in a case he handled, the Jury Promotion Alliance
(JPA) and the Taiwan Forever Association told a news conference that the current
judge review mechanism has been malfunctioning and it was time to push for a
thorough judicial reform.
¡§We believe that a jury system would better reflect the public¡¦s expectations of
the judiciary and social justice because jurors randomly selected from civilians
would be free from bribery and political interference,¡¨ JPA convener and lawyer
Cheng Wen-lung (¾G¤åÀs) told a press conference.
Civilian participation in the judicial system would eliminate the so-called
¡§dinosaur judges¡¨ who handed out unbelievable rulings that ran against all
common sense, he said.
Taiwan has adopted the legal system of civilian law, originating in Europe,
rather than the common law system of the US and the UK.
The current review mechanism and the Judges Act (ªk©xªk) were unable to fight
corruption and eliminate bad judges, which was why civilian participation in the
system would be ¡§the only way,¡¨ said Wu Ching-chin (§d´º´Ü), an associate professor
of law at Aletheia University and a member of the TFA¡¦s standing committee.
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