Tainan Court Rejects Chang Hsi-ming's Administrative Lawsuit 張錫銘18度假釋未過提訟 台南地院駁回

Once the most sought-after criminal in Taiwan, Chang Hsi-ming, filed an administrative lawsuit on Oct. 5 after his parole application have been rejected 18 times. The Tainan District Court rejected his request on Wednesday the 19th. 

Chang Hsi-ming, one of the most-wanted shooters in Taiwan, was sentenced to life in 2007. He has been in jail for the past 17 years. Chang recently filed an administrative lawsuit after having been rejected 18 times for parole application. He felt like he wasn't being treated fairly. However, the Tainan District Court rejected Chang's lawsuit, saying that Chang never came to a reconciliation with the victims. Furthermore, the court regarded the Agency of Corrections' multiple rejections of his parole application reasonable in consideration of all the crimes he committed.

Liu Hsiu-chun, Administrative Chief Judge, Tainan District Court: “The defendant is allowed to apply for parole, but it doesn't mean that the application will definitely go through. In consideration of the severity of the defendant's crime, the lack of record for reconciliation and compensation after the crime, and the risk for recidivism, the court ruled his request unreasonable and will not be processed.”

The Prison Watch organization regretted such result from the court. They felt that the court allowed the Agency of Corrections to exercise too much administrative discretion and this is a denial of possibilities in human life. The organization also think that rules and regulations for parole are unclear, creating different standards for prisoners' return to society. Chang's case highlights the obstacles and challenges in the parole system of Taiwan.  

Chen Hui-min, Chair, Prison Watch: “The court, along with the Agency of Corrections kept emphasizing how bad the defendant's crime was, and went into much careful detail. The defendant has already taken the first step in repenting for his crime by accepting his life sentence. The government's rehabilitation programs are designed to improve behaviors, but is the government focusing on changes for the better or the unchanged? This has been our question for a while.”

Chang explained in court that other accomplices have all been accepted on parole. The prosecutors responded that other accomplices' crimes are of lesser degree and they received shorter sentences. Only Chan Lung-lan was comparable to Chang and he had served in jail for 20 years before his parole got approved.

曾為10大槍擊要犯的張錫銘，2007年被判處無期徒刑，迄今服刑17年，因申請假釋18次全遭駁回，提起行政訴訟，不過台南地院考量他沒有跟被害人和解，加上以前他所犯下的一些重罪，矯正署沒有通過假釋，是在職權範圍內駁回張錫銘告訴。

台南地方法院行政庭長劉秀君指出：「被告得許假釋出獄，而非應許假釋出獄，考量原告犯行情節、犯後表現及再犯風險的3大面向，犯行嚴重危害公眾安全及社會安全，且無和解或賠償相關紀錄，原告起訴請求撤銷原處分及複審決定為無理由，應予駁回。」

對於結果，監所關注小組也發出聲明，表示遺憾。認為行政法院還是透過矯正署的寬泛的行政裁量，否決掉受刑人生命的各種可能，同時也認為假釋規範模糊不清，受刑人回歸社會的標準不明，凸顯當前假釋制度的困境與危機。

監所關注小組理事長陳惠敏表示：「法院不斷的跟矯正署，一起的不斷強調當事人當時的犯行重大，鉅細靡遺描述細節，這其實也正是當事人之所以入監服刑，開始悛悔實據的第一步，所以我們對於刑事政策上的矯正教育要看到的，到底是他的改變，還是他的不變，這也是我們始終是覺得很懷疑的部分。」

另外，張錫銘也主張跟他同案共犯的受刑人都已經假釋出獄，不過法官認為，其他的共犯罪質都比較輕，而且刑期也比他短，唯一跟他相同的大概只有詹龍欄，但詹龍欄在監獄中已經服刑了20年。