Citizen Judge System Starts Next Year 國民法官元旦上路 模擬簡化法界表憂心

The citizen judge system will be implemneted starting next year. Some observers, however, worried that not enough work has been done to prepare lay judges to cope with the new system. 

Simulation court exercises have been carried out in the past two years. Starting next year, the citizen judge system will be implemented. In the future, not only professional judges, but also ordinary citizens will participate in the trial of major criminal cases. However, has the preparatory work been completed?

Chen I-ting, Deputy Chairperson, Taiwan Criminal Defense Attorney Assoc.: “We have only held simulations for two short years. There have been too many cases during these two years that were not simulated. How to make proper arrangements in case of an emergency? This is actually not within the scope of the simulations.”

Although nearly a hundred simulated courts have been held, the lawyers who have actually participated think that due to time pressure, the simulation procedures were too simplified. They are afraid that there will be a gap in the real situation. Lay judges are inevitably influenced when they face professional judges with legal expertise. This has triggered an authority effect, and related problems have emerged as a result.

Lin Tzu-wei, Legal Director, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty: “The mock trials in the past have not conducted any pre-sentencing social investigation at all. But this investigation has to be done for death penalty cases in recent years. Otherwise, the case will be revoked by superior review.”

Lin Yung-sung, Chairperson, Judicial Reform Foundation: “Can the real court work like a mock trial after January 1, 2023? The judges in mock trials were all objective, neutral, and kind. And their explanations were very careful. But we don't know if this will carry over to the real court.”

In many mock trials, the Alliance to End the Death Penalty found that the investigation procedures were not complete in cases involving the death penalty. In this situation, the punishment was still directly imposed, which also caused concern. Social organizations have jointly established relevant alliances, which will continue to monitor the new system after it comes online. They hope that judicial reform can be truly implemented.

過去2年，模擬法庭演練如火如荼展開，再過8天，國民法官新制就要施行，將來在審判席上不僅有職業法官，素人也將一起參與重大刑事案件審判，但事前準備工作，都完備了嗎？

台灣刑事辯護律師協會副理事長陳奕廷指出：「模擬的時間只有短短2年而已，在這2年期間，有太多的情況是完全沒有模擬過的，遇到突發狀況時，該怎麼樣去妥善地做安排，這其實都沒有在模擬的範圍當中。」

儘管模擬法庭，已經舉行近百場，但曾經實際參與的律師認為，礙於時間壓力，演練程序過於簡化，就怕跟真實情況有落差，甚至素人面對有法律專業的職業法官時，難免被影響，引發了權威效應，相關問題一一浮現。

台灣廢除死刑推動聯盟法務主任林慈偉表示：「台灣在過去的模擬，根本沒有一件做過所謂量刑前社會調查，但這是一個近幾年，台灣在辦理死刑案件絕對要做的調查，不然的話，它的結果就是會被上級審撤銷。」

民間司改會董事長林永頌也表示：「2023年1月1日實施之後，運作到底能不能像模擬法庭那樣，法官都很客觀中立，都很親切說明都很用心，我們不知道。」

過去多次模擬，廢死團體也發現，涉及死刑案件，事前調查程序不完備，在這種情境下仍舊直接量刑，也引起擔憂，而民間團體共同成立相關聯盟，將持續監督新制上路後的相關成果，期盼司法改革，可以真正落實。