萬國法律事務所

Taiwan recently revised its Organic Law of the Court in order to introduce the independent prosecutor system from foreign jurisdictions and alters the old system whereby the president alone appointed the chief prosecutors so that in the future, such appointments will be made only after the approval by the Legislative Yuan of an individual nomimated by the president. The appointment will be limited to a four-year term, with no extension possible. The independence and impartiality of the chief prosecutor is to be enhanced by exempting him from interpellation by the Legislative Yuan except with respect to budgets and legal cases.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court will establish a special investigations division comprised of six to fifteen prosecutors who’s responsibility it will be to investigate cases of corruption involving the president, vice president, heads of the five yuans, heads of ministries and commissions, and military officers of full general’s rank; cases of national election frauds or of election interference by election agencies, political parties, or candidates during election campaigns for the president, vice president, and legislators; and major corruption cases, economic crimes, damage to the social order, and other cases as designated by the chief prosecutor.

Additionally, a Prosecutorial Personnel Review Committee with 17 members within the Ministry of Justice has been established in order to enlarge the participatory mechanism for personnel review and to take charge of reviews, audits, as well as rewards and punishments. As an incentive and reward for experience, the ranks of district court judges and prosecutors at district prosecutors’ offices can now be elevated to grade 14, which is currently the highest rank for administrative officials as it is equivalent to an administrative deputy minister, in order to encourage experienced judges to remain at the district courts and thereby enhance the quality of investigations and judgments.