The China Post
Date: September 30, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan
Jury trials would not necessarily build public trust in the justice system, experts warned Thursday.
At a forum organized by the Association of the Judicial Human Rights, academic veterans and frontline
From left to right, Presiding Judge of the Taiwan High Court Chang Yong-hong, lawyer Sun Chen-hua and Associate Professor at Fu Jen Catholic University’s School of Law Chang Ming-woei listen at the forum on Thursday, Sept. 29. (Sun Hsin Hsuan, The China Post)
practitioners urged the government to rethink plans for lay participation in the justice system.
The panel warned that a jury system would require a “mature society” and comprehensive regulations — both of which they say the country currently lacks — in order to succeed.
Citizen participation in the justice system has been proposed as a means of increasing impartiality and public trust.
Fervent debate has emerged across the nation, after the Tsai administration vowed reforms in the wake of polls indicating a lack of public confidence in the country’s legal system.
Associate Professor of Fu Jen Catholic University School of Law Chang Ming-woei said the idea of incorporating jury trials into the legal system had been brought up as early as 80 years ago [FULL STORY]
