The regulations regarding the appointment from candidates with qualifications for judges are designed to recruit elite from the judicature, prosecution, public defenders and the academic sector to join the ranks of judges.
(Staff reporter) Judicial Yuan on August 24, 2012 promulgated the “Judge Appointment Regulations” to bring to realization the idea of diversifying the appointment of judges. The said regulations set the guidelines for appointment of new judges and reappointment of judges from personnel with qualifications for judges as set forth in the Judges Act, including grand justices, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and public defenders. The regulations also specify that Judicial Yuan may recommend senior lawyers with outstanding performance and full-time professors to become judges – a measure for recruiting talents from various sectors to join the judicature.
Newly appointed judges will be assigned to ordinary courts (all courts below the Supreme Court, the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries, and the High Court) and specialized courts (the Supreme Administrative Court, the High Administrative Court, the Intellectual Property Court, and the Juvenile and Family Court).
The key points in the Judge Appointment Regulations are as follows:
1. The decision on the ineligibility of candidates with negative qualifications: A number of negative qualifications are specified in Article 6 of the Judge Appointment Regulations. The age limit prescribed in Subparagraph 4 shall apply according to the age of the candidate on the day before the application is filed. In principle, applicants shall be under 55 years of age. However, the age limit for those qualified for appointment to serve as judges in the Supreme Court or the High Court or to be a member of the Commission on Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries shall be 60 years of age when they apply to be transferred or reappointed to the court of final appeal.
2. Application for transfers to ordinary courts: Lawyers may become judges by taking public examinations or filing applications or through recommendation by Judicial Yuan. However, for those having practiced law for less than six years and hence considered not having enough practical experience, taking public examinations will be the only option. For professors to become judges and grand justices to be transferred, filing applications and recommendation by Judicial Yuan are the two approaches. As to public defenders and prosecutors who are interested in joining the judicature, filing applications is also the only choice. For incumbent prosecutors to become judges, Judicial Yuan shall request in writing the Ministry of Justice to investigate the willingness of the prosecutors and send the result to Judicial Yuan to be processed.
3. Appointment of judges to specialized courts: Since the qualifications for appointment to the Supreme Court and the High Court are already specified in Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 5 of the Judges Act, the Judge Appointment Regulations only stipulate the approaches of appointment of judges to administrative courts of different levels, including taking public examinations and recommendation by Judicial Yuan. As for other specialized courts, such as the Intellectual property Court and the Juvenile and Family Court, the qualifications for appointment are yet to be defined by law and the formulation of regulations regarding the appointment of judges to these courts therefore has to be on hold until the aforesaid definition is established and the corresponding law provides the legal basis for the formulation of regulations.
As for the procedure for appointment of personnel without the qualifications for judges, the “Draft Regulations for Appointment of Personnel without Qualifications to Be Judges” has been formulated and presented to the Examination Yuan to solicit its opinions.
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