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司法院新聞
 
2009.08.05
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Judicial Yuan News Release Judicial Yuan Promotes Speedy and Fair Trials


                         
“Late justice is no justice.” The Judicial Yuan’s objective is to create speedy and fair trials, relieve people from the burden of litigations, and let justice prevail timely. Modern civilizations face a common problem, the pending and undecided law suits; European countries and United States are also struggling with pending lawsuits. For this issue, the Judicial Yuan is on the front line in designing a system to timely prevail justice.

On May 14, 2009, we signed the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Prior to that, the President promulgated Article 2 of the “Act to Implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” on April 22, 2009, which states that the articles in the United Nations 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights shall have domestic legal status. Subparagraph 3 of Paragraph 3 of Article 14 of the said Covenant stipulates that a criminal defendant shall be tried without undue delay; and Paragraph 3 of Article 9 stipulates that anyone arrested or detained shall promptly entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release.

Furthermore, the Judicial Yuan proclaims that everyone has the right to a fair, legal and speedy trial at court through the Grand Justice Meeting Interpretations No. 446 and No. 530. Therefore, it is one of the basic rights for a criminal defendant to enjoy rights to a fair, legal and speedy trial in our country.

Fair and speedy trial is highly valued in human rights protection; to comply with the trend of human rights protection and integrate with the world system, it is of great urgency to create an efficient and quality justice system. On May 26 and 27, 2009, the Judicial Yuan invited representatives from the court, prosecutors’ office, lawyers, and academics to join the “Conference on the Draft for Fair and Speedy Criminal Trials” for two times. The “Draft for Fair and Speedy Criminal Trials” incorporated opinions from the above participants. To make the Draft more complete, the Judicial Yuan plans to invite representatives from the court, prosecutors’ office, lawyers, and academics for the following six “Conferences on the Draft for Fair and Speedy Criminal Trials” to be held on August 17, 18, 20, 24, 26, 28, 2009 in the northern, central, southern, and eastern areas. Through public participation and brainstorming, the Judicial Yuan pools wisdom for reforms and future legislation.

Summary of the “Draft for Fair and Speedy Criminal Trials” is as follows:
1. The purpose of the law is to protect people’s right to a fair, legal, and speedy trial.
2. Trials shall be speedy, fair, and with due process.
3. Parties in the litigation process shall exercise rights pursuant to the principle of good faith and credit and may not abuse such rights.
4. The preparation process shall be put into effect for centralized trials.
5. Where a defendant is detained, the case shall be prioritized and promptly tried in a row.
6. Where a case has been pending for a period of time and cannot reach a final judgment, the court may dismiss the case by ruling to close the case after considering relevant factors.
7. Where a case has been pending for a period of time and has been remanded by the Supreme Court for several times, the Supreme Court may have a special review mechanism.
8. The mechanism designed for situations where a prosecutor or defender obstructs the litigation procedure.
9. Other authorities have duties to comply with the Law to promote speedy and fair trials.
10. To reach speedy and fair trials and protect human rights, the county shall construct an efficient litigation system to support the mechanism and relevant conditions.
11. The Judicial Yuan may stipulate procedural regulations to promote speedy and fair trials.
12. Private prosecuted cases shall apply mutatis mutandis the Law.

Lately, the Judicial Yuan expands manpower to study system reforms, encourage judges for advanced studies, and supports judges in administrative affairs, in order to improve the quality and efficiency of trials. Below are the major measures:
1. We established special courts for major financial and highly controversial cases and specialized intellectual property court; we also continue to enhance the capacity of such special courts.
2. We increase staffs to support judicial affairs; for example, we select and train professional judicial affair officers to support judges on specialized issues.
3. We suggest competent authorities to set professional appraisal institutions to improve existing problems and build a standardized appraisal procedure.
4. We continue to promote reform in criminal appeals and construct a pyramidal litigation system.
5. We cooperate with the academics to build a judicial database, so that judges may find references when dealing with new, complex, or specialized legal issues and improve the efficiency and quality of trials.
6. We keep on supporting essential manpower and resources, such as the case schedule management system, judicial affair officers, clerks, judge assistances, and other human resource or administrative measures, in order to make trials more efficient.
 
Even though judges now face heavy workloads, we still do our best to improve trial quality under difficult judicial conditions. However, the ideal to create a quality trial is more than that. In order to strengthen the employment of judges, improve judge quality, and encourage enthusiasm, the Judicial Yuan will continue to promote legislation of the Judges Law and establish an elimination mechanism for judges. Hence, we will build specialized and enthusiastic court system and create trusts in the judicial system.
       
Nevertheless, the Judicial Yuan comprehends obstacles and burdens judges encounter in practice, and we also know how difficult it is for the public to see their case wandering in the court system. To balance the two, we are determined to reform and have proposed the “Draft for Fair and Speedy Criminal Trials.” The Draft is designed for practical needs; on one hand, it carries out existing fundamental mechanism for speedy and fair trials, supports judges in protecting rights to litigation, and improves current trial conditions; on the other hand, studies on the Law raises attention to speedy and fair trials, and the public and judicial participants are motivated to consider the value of justice. We know that it requires everyone’s effort to reach the goal of speedy and fair trial. A reform may not be accomplished in a day; and a change cannot await opportunities. Let’s work for speedy and fair trials together!