Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-30

Taiwan’s judiciary, the Judicial Yuan, on Thursday announced a draft bill for citizen

Taiwan’s judiciary, the Judicial Yuan, on Thursday announced a draft bill for citizen judges to take part in criminal trials in the future. (CNA photo)

judges to take part in criminal trials in the future.

If the bill passes, a judicial process will involve three professional judges and six citizen judges in cases that have been going on for seven years or more. People 23 years old and above who have completed high school education or higher will be eligible to serve. They must also be a Taiwanese national with residency of more than four months in the municipality of the local court.

Judicial Yuan official Su Su-e explained. “During this period of selecting citizen judges, anyone in the justice ministry, or judges, prosecutors or defendants will have the right to bring up any questions during the selection process. They can either choose to include or not include reasoning for their refusals. Through such a selection process, we will have a group of citizen judges who are unbiased and have diverse values,” said Su.    [FULL  STORY]