A marathon session lasted until midnight at the Legislative Yuan before it passed the second reading of a bill to allow citizens to participate in deciding criminal trials. However, Kuomintang criticized the DPP for making a U-turn on its stance.


The legislature worked overtime on July 20 and passed the second reading of a draft bill on a "mixed court system" with "citizen judges." The deliberation continued on July 21. The Kuomintang convened a press conference to question why the Democratic Progressive Party previously supported a jury system in its party platform, only to make a U-turn and throw its support behind a mixed court system.

Out of the four political parties, only the Democratic Progressive Party is in opposition to the jury system. It is shamelessly attacking the jury system, but it's only slapping itself in the face.

Opinion polls show that 81 percent are in favor of a jury system, which is higher than the 63 percent supporting a mixed court system.

Deliberations began with Article 26 of the draft bill on July 21. Around 100 articles remained to be voted on. As political parties had differing opinions, each party caucus submitted its own version. Every party also had time to expound on every clause, so the session is expected to last until midnight. The KMT said it will push for every clause to be examined and voted on, while the DPP said the objective is to pass the third reading before July 22, the end of the extraordinary session.

We're aiming to complete the third reading today. If that's not possible, then we'll continue burning the midnight oil to complete it tomorrow, because that's when the extraordinary session ends.

The draft bill has passed the second reading thus far. Under a mixed court system, citizen judges work with professional judges to produce verdicts. Citizen judges must be Republic of China citizens who are at least 23 years old and have lived at least four months in the jurisdiction of the district court. They will be used in cases involving sentences of 10 years or more.



歷經20號開會10小時挑燈夜戰，立法院臨時會21號，繼續進行「國民法官法」逐條表決大戰。國民黨團也召開記者會，緊咬民進黨團當年在黨綱中支持陪審制，現在草案中卻力排陪審制，是跨時空打臉。

國民黨立院黨團總召 林為洲表示：「四個黨喔，只有民進黨反對有陪審制。加入這次的改革，多諷刺啊！厚顏無恥地在攻擊陪審制，越打臉，越打自己的臉。」

民間司改會董事長 林永頌表示：「（民調)支持陪審的高達(百分之)81點多，然後比支持參審的(百分之)63點多還高。」

21號會議程序，從草案第26條開始審議，但還有近百條文需要表決，由於朝野意見不一，各黨團都有各自提出版本，加上每條文各黨團發言時間，將馬拉松式開會至午夜十二點，藍委表示，這次採用文攻不斷電表決方式迎戰，不過民進黨團強調，要力拚在22號臨時會議程結束前，三讀過關。

民進黨立委 陳亭妃表示：「（草案三讀)趕快在今天完成，如果不行的話，就繼續挑燈夜戰。希望在明天(完成)，因為我們的臨時會就到明天。」

國民參與刑事審判法草案，目前已二讀完成法規名稱為「國民法官法」、國民法官選任資格為年滿23歲，且在地方法院管轄區域內，居住滿4個月以上的中華民國國民，以及國民參審適用範圍，是本刑十年以上的案件等規定。