萬國法律事務所

The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan recently passed the bill of the Criminal Code Amendment for the first level of legislative deliberation (“Amendment”). Under the Amendment, combining punishments for multiple offenses will not preclude the application for being commuted into a fine or community service.

The bill was proposed according to the Constitution Interpretation No. 662 made in June 2009 by the Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan. The Interpretation No. 662 addressed the issue where, under the then applicable Article 41 of the Criminal Code, sentences to imprisonment for multiple offences which may each be commuted into a fine cannot be so commuted after combination of the sentences if the combined term of imprisonment exceeds six months. The Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan concluded that the above provision created unnecessary restriction on people’s freedom and rights and conflicted with Article 23 of the Constitution. The Grand Justices thus declared the above provision void immediately upon the date of the Interpretation No. 662 and to be revised accordingly.