TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Shieh Ming-yan (謝銘洋), acting president of the Judicial Yuan (司法院) on Friday (Jan. 10) revealed that over 82% of the general public believes the citizen judges system (國民法官制度) can enhance Taiwan's judiciary. This finding comes from two years of investigative statistics and underscores the system's potential impact on judicial reform, he noted.
Implemented on New Year's Day 2023, the citizen judges system emphasizes collaboration among judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, relying on evidence presented by prosecutors, defense strategies, and impartial court rulings. The Judicial Yuan, Ministry of Justice (法務部), and Taiwan Bar Association (全國律師聯合會) hosted the 80th Judicial Festival academic seminar (第80屆司法節學術研討會) at the National Central Library (國家圖書館), focusing on new approaches to civil and criminal litigation.
The number of cases involving citizen participation in trials increased from 108 in 2023 to 165 in 2024, with plans to include cases with a minimum sentence of 10 years from 2026 onward. A survey commissioned by the Judicial Yuan last year showed that 83% of lawyers trust judges, and 87.6% are satisfied with trial independence.
Shieh noted challenges such as amendments to the "Constitutional Court Procedure Act" (憲法訴訟法) and a surge in case numbers, with new cases rising from over 3.64 million in 2023 to over 3.92 million in 2024. Facing these challenges, the Judicial Yuan is actively considering reforms, including optimizing administrative processes, simplifying judgment documents and records, and utilizing technology to improve trial efficiency.