萬國法律事務所

The first reading of the amendment to Article 25 of the Civil Service Discipline Act was passed yesterday by Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. The prescription period for neglect of duty by functionaries will be 10 years beginning from the date on which the neglect was discovered as opposed to the current “date when the neglect ended”. The amendment will not have retroactive effect and thus will not apply to the case of the Air Force Private Jiang Guo-Qing, who died following torture, which case has triggered heated social debate. As a result, the nine officers including the previous Commander of the Air Combat Command will thus not be subject to disciplinary actions after the third reading of this law.

The main focus of this amendment is in regard to the ability to recover retirement pension funds received by functionaries who neglected their duties in violation of the law, including military personnel, even after the functionary in question has left the position or has retired. In addition, the concept of “date of discovery” is defined in the amendment as the date when Taiwan’s Control Yuan has filed, completed and confirmed the investigation of the neglect, or the date affirmed by the government body under which the functionary served his/her duties.

An official of the Legislative Yuan indicated that there may be insufficient time in the current session to pass the three readings of the amendment, but the three readings should be completed during the next session.