Chiang Hui-ming, Administrative Vice Minister of Justice

轉載自廉政署資訊網 法務部江惠民次長接受新聞局Taiwan Today「今日台灣」英文電子報專訪 November 20, 2010

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/icac2010/12643740

Judicial reform takes tentative first steps

Chiang Hui-ming, administrative vice minister of justice, talks about the soon-to-be established anti-corruption commission. (Staff photo/Chang Su-ching)Publication Date：10/15/2010

Source： Taiwan Today

By Grace Kuo

Criminal justice has often been seen as society’s last line of defense. But several high-profile cases have dealt a severe blow to the public’s faith in the entire legal system.

In one case, police were caught taking bribes from illegal gambling operators. In another, judges and prosecutors were accused of accepting cash payments in exchange for handing down lighter sentences. A third case involved a convicted child molester inexplicably being given a very light sentence.

In the wake of these and other scandals, President Ma Ying-jeou announced July 20 that to fight corruption at all levels, his administration would set up an anti-corruption agency under the Ministry of Justice.

The idea of establishing such an agency is in fact nothing new. In the 1980s, then legislator Jaw Shaw-kong already brought up a similar idea.

His suggestion was put on hold, however, because the government at the time thought such an agency was unnecessary, according to Chiang Hui-ming, administrative vice minister of the MOJ, who spoke with Taiwan Today in an interview Sept. 27.

Though the public has generally received Ma’s proposal with approval, some commentators are worried the agency could turn out to be just another layer of bureaucracy that could be used to mask the problem of corruption.

Others point out that there already exists an agency in charge of fighting corruption—the Bureau of Investigation. They further note that every government department already has an internal ethics unit responsible for monitoring corruption and other abuses by public servants.

A third potential problem is voiced by Jaw. In a July 30 commentary in the local newspaper Apple Daily, he noted that if the proposed agency falls under the control of the MOJ, it could become a toothless paper tiger, because it might lack the necessary independence to investigate corruption at the highest levels of government.

His views are shared by analysts at Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd., a Hong-Kong based company that provides periodic reports on corruption in Asian countries, which warns that “a lack of independence could hurt the effectiveness of the new body.”

Asked to comment on these reservations, Chiang said prosecutors in Taiwan already have enormous independence and can go after anyone they suspect of a crime.

Prosecutors have even brought charges against ministers and even the country’s former president, he said.

The intention of the proposed agency, Chiang said, is not to replace prosecutors but to make their job easier. This being the case, “if the agency were to be set up under the Presidential Office or the Executive Yuan, its officials might have a difficult time coordinating their work with prosecutors.

“But if the agency’s officials operate under the MOJ, they would be under the same government agency responsible for investigating other crimes.

“This seems to be the most suitable choice, as anti-corruption officials could provide assistance to prosecutors during investigations, which would result in more efficiency in manpower deployment and collaboration,” he said.

The agency could also help solve another problem identified by the MOJ in a 2009 report, which noted that corruption cases are often perpetrated by people who know exactly how to hide and destroy evidence of their crimes.

These kinds of crimes, which usually take place in secrecy, seldom have witnesses, and when witnesses can be found, they are often unwilling to testify in court for fear of retribution. As a result, witnesses for the prosecution often recant their previous sworn testimony in court. All these reasons make corruption cases difficult to handle.

As also stated in the report, another reason the conviction rate for corruption cases in Taiwan is so low is a lack of specialized knowledge on the part of prosecutors.

Corruption cases often involve public servants in fields such as engineering, finance, customs, architecture, urban planning and transportation.

“Knowledge in each field has its own complexities and outsiders are often unfamiliar with the sectors’ administrative procedures,” the MOJ noted. “If prosecutors are unfamiliar with relevant knowledge or are not thorough enough in gathering evidence, suspects can easily defend themselves.”

One advantage of the proposed anti-corruption commission is that it will have many officials from precisely these specialized fields.

As noted by Chiang, “Our plan is to employ many non-governmental experts in such fields as engineering, information, finance and law.

“A mechanism will be set up to select these anti-corruption experts, who will receive a four-month training designed to increase their professional legal knowledge.”

In addition, an anti-corruption examining committee will be established, with members also composed of specialists from outside the government, Chiang said.

“Results of cases dealt with by the commission will be reported to the committee, giving the members a chance to understand how the cases were handled,” he explained. “The aim is to make the system more transparent and allow the outside world to supervise our work.”

The anti-corruption agency is just one of many steps the government is taking to fix the problems besetting the criminal justice system.

Other reforms being considered include a new law on how judges and prosecutors are evaluated.
According to a draft proposal of this law, judges and prosecutors who are found to have abused their power or violated proper procedure can be removed from office, something almost impossible at the moment.
“This act is currently under review at the Legislative Yuan,” Chiang said. “Once the bill is passed, there will be a mechanism for eliminating inappropriate judicial officials.”

Some members of the public have also asked for the passage of a “Sunshine Law,” which would make it a crime for public officials or their families to be in possession of money that could not be accounted for.

Other proposals include strengthening the training of judges and educating the public on what constitutes corruption.

“We hope every citizen’s anti-corruption sense can be sharpened,” Chiang stressed. “Only then will our goal of fighting corruption have succeeded.”

Judicial reform is an extremely lengthy process that will not be completed in a day or two. It is also the solemn responsibility of the MOJ, according to Chiang.

The establishment of an anti-corruption commission is one step in the right direction, as is the act that will make it possible to remove incompetent judges and prosecutors. In time, perhaps, the nation will have a judicial system it can be proud of. (HZW)