First Trial With Citizen Judges Set to Start 國民法官首參與審判 台中地院開準備庭

The Taichung District Court convened a preparatory hearing for the first case with the participation of citizen judges.

In this courtroom, there are seats for a presiding judge, two accompanying judges, and six citizen judges. Earlier this year, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office charged a man surnamed Huang with homicide. This case became the first one with the participation of citizen judges. The Taichung District Court convened a preparatory hearing on Feb. 24.

Mr. Chou, Resident: “It's a good thing to consider other people's opinions, because sometimes judges may be too subjective or something. They may also ignore other judgments.”

This case involves a 22-year-old man surnamed Huang. On Oct. 20, 2022, he got into a conflict with a colleague surnamed Shi, picked up a knife, and murdered him. The circumstances of this case met the requirements for the participation of citizen judges, which are when the accused has committed an offense punishable with a minimum sentence of 10 years or when the accused has intentionally committed an offense that caused death. Four prosecutors attended the hearing along with three lawyers for the defendant. Legal experts say whether the victim's related litigation rights and interests are protected can be monitored.

Hsu Cheng-yin, Lawyer: “The status and rights of a victim in procedural law or the Citizen Judges Act are actually very, very insufficient and weak, so we can monitor the rights of the victim or the victim's lawyers including discovery and participation in proceedings.”

This trial has a nine-judge panel, including a presiding judge and six citizen judges.

法官席上除了審判長以及2位陪席法官之外，還有6位國民法官的席次。台中地檢署年初起訴黃姓業務員殺人案，成為台灣司法史上第一件由國民法官參與審判的案件，24日上午台中地方法院召開國民法庭準備庭，備受舉國關注。

民眾周先生說道：「參考其他民眾的一些想法也是不錯的，因為有時候，法官可能過於主觀或怎麼樣，也會忽略到其他的一些判斷。」

本案是22歲黃姓男子，在去年10月20日與同為業務的施姓男子發生衝突，持刀殺害對方。由於符合所犯最輕本刑為10年以上有期徒刑，或故意犯罪而發生死亡結果的條件，因此成為符合國民參與審判的案件。台中地檢署由公訴檢察官張凱傑等4人出庭，被告則由黃致豪等3名律師組成律師團。法界人士認為，可關注被害人與被害人律師，能否在訴訟權益上獲得保障。

非本案律師徐承蔭指出：「其實在被害人被害者權，在整個訴訟法上，或是國民法官法的地位跟權利，相對其實是非常的不足及弱勢，可以多多關注在被害人或是被害人律師這一端，他本身的權利 以及資訊的獲知權，還有他的訴訟參與權。」

本案由台中地院刑四庭庭長唐中興擔任受命法官與審判長，將依國民法官法遴選6名國民法官，組成9人合議庭展開審判。