Keyboard Judges, Judicial Reform, Jury System

  Keyboard Judges, Judicial Reform, Jury System

 United Daily News Editorial

(Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

March 9, 2017

 Translation of an Except

There was a big twist in the murder case of a young female model in Nan Gang. A girl named Liang had earlier been “condemned to death” by the general public in the online world; after the pursuit by prosecutors and police, Liang had an alibi and was thus released by the prosecutor in the inquiry session. The general public, easily being led by limited information, may become furious or even conduct a dreadful populist trial. This incident should be a wake-up call to the National Affairs Conference on judicial reform which has strongly advocated "people's justice" and "the jury system."

It is not proper to revise laws or enact legislation for a singular case; this is Political Science 101. However, as populist trends heat up, things of this nature become more and more frequent. "Justice for a particular case" may perhaps quickly respond to expectations of public opinion for the judiciary, while it may distort across-the-board justice for the law and become cheap or biased justice.

Nowadays in Taiwan, calls for justice in favor of particular cases have virtually become mainstream. For instance, the National Affairs Conference on judicial reform plans to push for a “system of Constitutional review for all court cases by the Council of Grand Justices”; the principal may, in a specific and particular case, petition to the Council of Grand Justices for a review of whether or not the verdict is Constitutional. In the view of our countrymen’s temperament of embroiling in endless fighting, often accusing the judiciary of being unfair, there are bound to be a large number of cases that petition for a Constitutional review, thereby paralyzing the functions of the Council of Grand Justices in interpreting the Constitution. As a result, will it really be a plus or minus to the protection of the rights of the majority of people?

The murder case of the young female model is a mirror revealing the true identity of all evil, exposing the reality or the fiction and the truth or falsehood of the keyboard judges, judicial reform, and the jury system. Taiwan's judiciary needs reform; however, what should be strengthened is the spirit of the rule of law, and not a march towards populism.

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