Taiwan's Judiciary: Corrupt & Selectively Cruel & Inhumane

  Some of you may be thinking that Zain Dean and I are just a couple of exceptions to what Taiwan's government likes to trumpet as a fair, impartial and just legal system. Nothing could be further from the truth of what really goes on in the island's legal sphere. Increasingly, egregious violations of defendants' legal and human rights are reported in Taiwan's media without any repercussions for those involved and without any tangible action by the government to rectify the situation.
  In a Feb. 21, 2013, Taipei Times editorial squarely aimed at both the judiciary and Taiwan president Ma Ying Jeou, the paper calls to task the government's lip service to "democratic values" and "protection of human rights." In a particularly pointed assessment of Ma's true regard for human rights, the editorial states:

 "Ma’s lack of humanity and respect for his predecessor has led some to wonder whether he truly keeps the meaning of “human rights” close to his heart and grasps the meaning embodied in the contents of the two international human rights covenants he has signed."

  You can read the full editorial here: The abuse of Chen's human rights 

  In fact, the only exceptions we may be are that we are two of very few expats (or Taiwanese) who dare to speak out publicly about the legal and human rights violations we have suffered at the hands of the island's nefarious judiciary. The extensive and long-running abuses that have plagued prosecutor's offices, the courts, and the police are regularly reported in Taiwan's news media and on some Taiwan and international websites.    
  However, little to nothing of any significance has been done by the government to remedy the myriad problems of corruption, cronyism, impartiality, ineptitude and ..... Equally shocking is that the public in Taiwan has largely remained passive for decades in demanding the necessary changes that would would protect them.
  Taiwan needs a lot more of this kind of voice, a Taipei Times reader who recently shared her dissatisfaction and disgust about Taiwan's lack of judicial integrity and it's shameful handling of former president Chen Shui-bian's corruption trials and corresponding inhumane and ill treatment he has suffered in jail for many years:

Tue, Mar 05, 2013  

[LETTER]

A-bian’s trials a disgrace

One of the hottest political topics surrounding the news media in Taiwan nowadays is whether former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should be given medical parole from prison on the grounds of his failing health.

The fervor has been accentuated by a short video recently released by a member of the Control Yuan. In the video, we see a man walking with difficulty, handicapped, stuttering and with other debilitated motor skills.

We cannot believe this was once a two-term president of Taiwan, who was willing to say and do things that pissed off a former president of the US, and won himself notoriety as a troublemaker and other expletives unfit to be published.

The irony about Chen Shui-bian’s legal battle is that it would have been thrown out of court and ended long ago when Chen was still healthy had it occured in the US.

Of all the dirty maneuverings, either covert or overt, conducted by members of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division throughout the trials concerning Chen and the subsequent charges of corruption and graft, none is as nefarious as coaching some of the key witnesses to perjure themselves to secure a conviction.

During one of the trial proceedings, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) overtly sought to influence the judges in charge by telling them that rendering a verdict in favor of Chen would conflict with the public’s expectations.

This shocking and unabashed disfranchising of judicial integrity in Taiwan has totally eroded the people’s confidence in its judicial system.

A rotten to the core judicial infrastructure, which can be manipulated at will, undoubtedly alarmed the British man [Zain Dean] who recently ruffled legal feathers in Taiwan by escaping the clutches of the judiciary by illegal means.

Such is the disgraceful state of the judicial system in Taiwan and there is not much hope of Chen being granted medical parole when the president himself, a graduate of Harvard Law School, takes the lead in making law and order a travesty.

Yang Chunhui
Utah

Taiwan's Judiciary: A Shock To The System

"From the beginning, it was always my intention to allow the legal process to take its course, with the aim of getting a fair and impartial trial, based on the principles of ROC law and correct legal procedure. In essence, I put my faith in the system and trusted that the truth would come out.
However, after almost three years of going through Taiwan’s court system, I was shocked and dismayed by the extreme bias with which I was treated, to the degree that I was denied the chance to defend myself fairly."

A Message From Zain Dean (February 1, 2013)

  This second paragraph of Dean's lengthy message, which appeared on Taiwanese.com, Forumosa and other Taiwan websites following news in January of his daring escape from Taiwan, echoes exactly my own naive reasons and beliefs that compelled me to take on the false accusations perpetrated against me by Alice Yang and the National Taipei University of Nursing & Health Sciences (國立臺北護理健康大學). 

  And just like Dean, as the agonizing weeks and months stretched into years, I saw the unabashed truth and horror that is Taiwan's shameful judiciary. Victimized and bullied by a corrupt and sociopathic clique of administrators and their cronies, and hamstrung almost completely by an inept, unprofessional and biased court, I suffered through a 4-year lesson in the harsh realities of (un)due process and the Rule of Men that dominate all facets of the legal processes on the island. 

  Reading his message and the accounts of his first trial, first appeal and final appeal brings back bitter memories of my own frustrations, shocks and dismay brought on by repeated violations of both international and Taiwan's own laws and legal procedures as well as of my human rights. Like Dean, I foolishly put my faith in the government's propaganda that Taiwan is a nation adhering to international standards of law, that Taiwan's laws protect the innocent and victims of wrongdoing, and that Taiwan respects the human rights of all. I trusted that the system would allow the truth and justice to prevail.

  From the sham handling of the nursing university's internal "investigation" and decision to the (mis)handling of my subsequent lawsuit against both Yang and the school, as I pursued my fight for the truth and justice it became more and more apparent that the ranks at all levels of my case had closed and it was an "us vs him" uphill battle that was stacked very heavily against me from the beginning - just as it has been against Zain Dean. 

  All too often in Taiwan's judiciary, the truth is twisted, manipulated or suppressed, and justice is stolen by the very people entrusted and empowered to uphold and use the law for the good of all deserving of its protections.
  Click on A Message From Zain Dean for the full text plus comments from readers.   

Digging Deep to Pull Myself Out of A Hole

  Tonight I opened up my own web domain (my first) and started a new blog dedicated to trying to erase the mountain of debt that accumulated throughout most of my 4-year-long battle for human rights and justice in Taiwan. Not only am I seeking donations to help me get squarely back on my feet so I can take proper care of my innocent two young sons who have also suffered from this nightmare, but I am also going to give something back to as many as I can for their kind assistance...and pay it forward too.

  You can find my new blog at Giving Up a Life's Worth of Music, Movies and More For My Kids' Future 

The Hypocrisy And The Audacity (Of Taiwan's Government)

  The Taiwan government's hypocrisy and double standards on the law, due process and human rights was on full display earlier this month in a transnational case involving a Taiwanese diplomat based in the U.S. accused of abusing her domestic worker and violating human trafficking laws among other things. 

  Apparently, the Taiwan government believes that Taiwan is the only place in the world where  everything is "done according to the law" and no one should question or challenge the actions and decisions of the authorities and judiciary. As well, in it's reaction to the arrest and detention of the diplomat, the Taiwan government showed it's nearly complete disregard for the issue of others' human rights, instead playing it's very popular "sovereignty card", whining incessantly that the case somehow involved China and disregard for Taiwan's sovereignty . 

  And in a farcical attempt to try and help Liu escape U.S. due process and law, the Taiwan government insisted for days that she was protected by diplomatic immunity in part because her alleged criminal misconduct was performed while on official duty. In perhaps the ultimate act of hypocrisy, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs even protested that diplomat Liu's "human rights were violated" in her arrest. What sheer audacity!

  No one in Taiwan's government, certainly no one in the judiciary, not even any of my lawyers from the Legal Aid Farce concerned themselves with my human rights as they were continually violated by undue process and selective application of or disregard for various laws and regulations. Trying to point out the various violations of my legal and human rights was like speaking in a foreign language to these people. Some even took the attitude that just by the mere existence of my case in the court and my having a lawyer provided by the LAF my legal and human rights were being safeguarded and protected. What a crock! Human rights are little more than empty words and a HUGE sham perpetuated by successive governments on the island. 

  Read this editorial for some interesting insight from the Taiwanese author on the Liu case and how it exposes the hypocrisy and truth of human rights in Taiwan: Human Rights Treated As a Slogan

  Here are a few of the many stories I came across as I followed developments in Liu's arrest and subsequent guilty plea:

Taiwan Diplomat in Kansas USA Arrested by FBI for Abusing Philippine Housekeeper, Embarrassing President Ma's Government 

Talk of The Day -- Taiwan-U.S. ties Tested by Diplomat's Arrest 

Details of Envoy’s US Arrest Emerge 

Taiwanese Diplomat May Wait in Prison for Months

02/09/12 Update: I've started a new blog entitled Giving Up a Life's Worth of Music, Movies and More For My Kids' Future 
 

Putting a Price on Life and Human Rights in Taiwan

  I came across a very enlightening editorial in the Nov. 7 Taipei Times newspaper about the Taiwanese judiciary's recent ruling that the mother of a wrongly convicted and executed young serviceman would receive $3.4 million in compensation for the loss of her son. While highlighting several troubling aspects of this case, author Lin Feng-jeng aptly points out the Taiwanese judiciary's and government's penchant for claiming that everything they do is "done according to the law." 
  According to the faulty logic of this oft-used excuse in Taiwan, the young man's confession under torture and duress, his execution, the lack of punishment for those guilty of violating his human and legal rights and for orchestrating his conviction and execution, were all handled "according to the law." 
  In my case, I was also told numerous times by the judge, prosecutor's and staff at the prosecutor's office, and even by some lawyers, that everything about my case was being handled "according to the law." In fact, my last lawyer, in a fit of anger while we were arguing about how poorly my case was being handled by the court and how much my legal and human rights were being violated, told me point-blank that "The truth didn't matter." He went on to explain that in Taiwan's courts, what judges care about is "who has the evidence" that the judge deems relevant according to his own thinking. Put simply, the parties in court are at the whims, fancies and biases of the particular judge, and whoever is lucky enough to be in the judge's favor will win the case!
  Read the editorial for more about how the law, judiciary and government handle legal and human rights in Taiwan:  Vote For a Legal System That Is Just

Not Even Marriage & Family Escape Injustice in Taiwan

  In yet another sterling example of how Taiwan's authorities so often disregard foreigners' legal rights and how decisions are made in a vacuum - lacking common sense, decency, compassion or adherence to international principles of human rights - here is a September 2011 story from the island's press about scores of international marriages in Taiwan blighted by the heavy-handed and callous treatment of the foreign spouses by the National Immigration Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Quite often in matters involving foreigners, the authority's (mis)handling of their cases involves elements of politics as much as institutional and/or personal bias against non-Taiwanese.

Dealing with a misguided MOFA 

Foreigners in Taiwan: Beneath the Law and Human Rights

  For white-collar professionals like myself, Taiwan is already a very scary place when it comes to matters of Rule of Law, due process, human rights and human dignity when attempting to seek justice as a victim of a crime or defend oneself from false allegations perpetrated by a Taiwanese. For migrant workers such as domestic helpers and assemblers in factories, many in reality treated as "slaves", Taiwan's authorities and the judiciary are even harsher in denying even the most basic of legal and human rights to those accused of wrongdoing or who are merely witnesses detained to aid in an investigation. 
  What has happened in my 4-year legal and human rights nightmare is symptomatic of a much wider and pervasive problem with the treatment of all levels of foreigners who toil in the island's schools as teachers, in various business, academic and social welfare entities, and in the homes and factories throughout Taiwan.
  I'll write more in-depth about this in a later post. For now, here are two illuminating articles on just how Taiwan's authorities and judiciary continually violate the legal and human rights of those working in Taiwan:


Foreigners Being Unfairly Detained, Rights Groups Say

Foreigners Have Human Rights Too

02/09/12 Update: I've started a new blog entitled Giving Up a Life's Worth of Music, Movies and More For My Kids' Future
 

A Closer Look At Another Attorney's Exit

 After squabbling with me for months, and attempting to coerce me into quitting my lawsuit in front of the judge late last year, why did the most recent attorney finally jump ship? Frankly, I was surprised he didn't announce his resignation after I challenged his deplorable behavior in court last September, so when he did finally quit 2 weeks ago it was anticlimactic.

  What was the catalyst for his exit this time? These 2 documents that actually should not have played any part in the civil lawsuit or our latest dispute, but which nonetheless did:

  Here is the exchange of emails between my former attorney and I which explain the connection between these documents and the civil lawsuit and how the latest disagreement came about:

Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 5:19 PM

Attny Tu,

  I have been in touch with the LAF and I have an appointment with them tomorrow to discuss the admin high court appeal and the extra fees for the civil case.
  In addition, I have been looking through all the documents in my court files and so far I have discovered one BIG problem. There is an important document the judge has left out of my files (please see attached Decision of the Shihlin District Prosecutor's Office).
  I personally handed a copy of the Shihlin prosecutor's office decision to the judge at the June 20, 2010 court hearing and it is inexcusable that he kept it out of my files. When the nursing university gave the judge a copy of the arrest warrant of August 21, 2009 (see attachment), the judge made sure he included it in my case files and when I gave him the prosecutor's decision he was also supposed to include that as part of my case files. The judge kept an unfavorable document in my files and when I was exonerated of the bogus and baseless allegations of defamation by the prosecutor (and the prosecutor also pointed out some problems with the nursing university's mistreatment of me), the judge left out the conclusion of the prosecutor's investigation which is favorable to me. This is another glaring example of the injustice continually perpetrated against me by the civil court.
  I would like an answer as to how you will handle this situation Attny Tu so that it is made right. The Shihlin prosecutor's decision belongs in my court files and the favorable judgments of the prosecutor should be included as part of my case against the nursing university...especially since the nursing university introduced their complaint and the arrest warrant they pushed against me to the civil court in another of their attempts to prevent a correct and favorable judgment in my civil lawsuit.
  I wonder (and am looking for) what other relevant documents and evidence in my favor are missing from my files. Have you ever checked  Attny Tu?

Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 10:38 PM

Mr. D,

I made it for sure that the court files copied from Attorney Chen is exactly the same with those held by the judge. However, lawyers would not know why certain document was not included in the court files. As you say, generally the judge would keep all documents she/ he got in the court file and made it accessible to all parties and their lawyers. However, if there is some privacy concern for the parties or public interest concerns (such as an evidence used in an ongoing prosecution process), the judge has the authority to limit the accessibility of some documents in the court file. I am not sure whether there are such concerns in your case.

My suggestion is: if you do think the "missing" document really relevant and a key point to your case, you may submit it to the new judge again and explain the importance of it to her. But in my view, although the "non-indictment" decision proves your innocence in slandering the nursing university, it did not play a crucial role at all in your civil law case. You may consider about this.

regards,

Attorney Tu

Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 12:00 AM

Attny Tu,

  Thank you for your explanation about what you know or speculate about the court files. Obviously, the court files are not exactly what Attorney Chen had in her hand, so at some point the prosecutor's decision was removed or it was never even put in my files in the district court.
  A judge is supposed to be an unbiased arbiter of the facts and evidence of a case and, in order to try and make a correct and legal decision, he/she is supposed to be balanced in his assessment of the available facts and evidence from both sides, not just one side. Obviously, since the judge accepted the arrest warrant and placed it in my files, he had decided the nursing university's complaint had some relevance to my civil case. Otherwise, he would not have accepted and retained the arrest warrant. There is no privacy concern applicable here because he had the unsealed arrest warrant in my files and, if he had any separate privacy concerns about the prosecutor's decision, he is allowed to seal the document before placing it in my files. I have already seen 2 or 3 documents in my files that were sealed. There is no explanation needed as to why the prosecutor's decision is supposed to be in my files. The presence of the arrest warrant in my files dictates that the prosecutor's decision must also be included in the files as balanced fact and evidence to the arrest warrant. If one is in my files, the other one must also be present. Otherwise, it is a clear indication of a bias in favor of the nursing university and against me.
  Please don't patronize me or make excuses for the judge. When you treat me in this manner Attny Tu it gives me increasing doubt as to who you are representing/defending in this case. I am aware you and my other attorneys have written many fine briefs to send to the judge, but I have yet to see any of you vigorously defend my case with your voices in court and challenge the biased and unfair treatment of me by the court. If not for my unwavering determination and strength to keep fighting for the truth and justice, this case would have already become another pitiful "Hsichih Trio" fiasco or like the recent news of the case of the military man who was wrongfully convicted and executed in 1997 when there was no evidence proving he committed the crime. Are these the examples of what you said is "evidence is what counts" in the courts in Taiwan rather than the truth? It's fortunate for me that I'm not accused of a capital crime in Taiwan or else I too could have ended up like the Hsichih Trio on death row for many years or worse dead and gone like the military man for a crime I never committed.
  I expect nothing less Attny Tu than to win this case because I have the truth and evidence on my side. I went to the LAF because I expected they would help me find an attorney who has the ability and skills to win this case. I expect nothing less from you or anyone who represents me.

Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 12:45 AM

Mr. D,

I am too busy to patronize you. Since you ask me, you have my speculation about why the court did not include the "non-indictment decision" in the court file.
Besides, I do think even the above prosecutory decision were included in the court file, it would not change the final decision of your civil law case. Because they are different cases. If you insist it works, you may still submit it to the judge. No one would stop you.
As I have stated for many times, I agree you were unfairly treated by NTCN, for they kind of manipulate several procedures to hinder you from arguing your rights. However, there is always a gap between ideal and reality. Many factors would affect the final decision of the court: the endeavor made by your lawyers, the judge(s), and of course yourself. You or your previous lawyer made a bad decision in raising 2 suits at the same time, which made the administrative lawsuit moot. Additionally, the so-called harassment event happened just before your contract with NTCN ended. This made NTCN's dismissing you justifiable in the name of "non-tender". These are the procedural and substantial hurdles on the way to your justice. Including me, every lawyers working on your cases have put their energy in arguing every possible rights for you, to fight for your justice.
I cannot agree the way you treat your lawyers and terminate the mandate here. Good luck for finding another lawyer to defend for your justice.

regards,

Attorney Tu

The Government & Judiciary: Tools of The Connected & The Powerful in Taiwan

 To give you an idea of the dirty lengths some employers or others in Taiwan can go to try and stop you from seeking justice by suing them and exposing their wrongdoings to the public, take a look at my story of how the nursing university used the Shihlin prosecutor's office to intimidate and bully me for over 2 years - even chasing me all the way to Thailand where I had gone to work with a bogus arrest warrant pushed by the nursing university - until I finally prevailed in having their criminal complaint dismissed in May of 2010. 
 Go to: Taiwan: The Island of Injustice and Human Rights Abuses