Regaining Public Trust, the Judiciary Needs Sunlight – Launch Press Conference of the Judicial Sunshine Website

"What is the reputation of the judge and prosecutor before me?"

This is a question every party, lawyer, and observing citizen walking into a court or prosecutors office wants to know. Unfortunately, information on judges and prosecutors is scattered everywhere on the internet and is truly difficult to find.

After months of hard work, the Judicial Reform Foundation collected information on judges and prosecutors from public sources as much as possible to establish the "Judicial Sunshine Website." Thanks to the efforts of g0v.tw, we were able to obtain a partial directory of prosecutors; by cross-referencing court schedules and judgments, we obtained the directories of the majority of judges. In fact, this information should have been publicly disclosed by the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Yuan long ago, and should not have been painstakingly completed by a non-governmental organization.

Regarding these judges and prosecutors, we have collected their basic information, career history, reward and punishment records, related news and statements, and other data from publicly available information on the internet. For the evaluation of judges and prosecutors, the JRF has also compiled several cases and the handling methods of relevant units, allowing more people to see how unsuited personnel are weeded out and the government's attitude in handling these cases.

Over the past year, under the active promotion of Premier Mao Chih-kuo, the executive branch has established the "Government Open Data Platform," fully promoting Open Data to release more government data for public use, analysis, and government oversight. In the Legislative Yuan, all bill progress and even meeting proceedings now include video recordings and transcripts, made available for public query via ivod and parliamentary gazettes.

However, in the judicial sector, Taiwan's judges and prosecutors wield immense power yet are unaccustomed to oversight. The Judicial Yuan has not fully disclosed detailed information on judges; one can only find brief names of judges via the "Court Schedule Inquiry" on the Judicial Yuan's website, and can only see judgments and the names of the judges who rendered them through the judgment query interface. However, if one wants to understand a series of cases judged by the same judge, it is difficult to query.

Prosecutors enjoy proactive investigative powers that readily affect people's rights and interests, yet they are even less transparent, lack sunlight, and are difficult to oversee. The Ministry of Justice is even unwilling to publish a directory of prosecutors, let alone other data related to the public interest. The judiciary has become a black box hidden from the light, making it difficult for the public to identify or supervise unsuited judges and prosecutors.

The JRF believes that whether prosecutors or judges, they have the power to determine the lives of many people, represent Taiwan's judiciary, and rightfully should accept oversight. Information on these judges and prosecutors should be properly disclosed, and the judgments they have rendered should be recorded, so that the public can see unsuited judicial officers and truly discover professional judicial officers.

Unfortunately, both the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice, constrained by a conservative mindset, have failed to release relevant information with appropriate authorization. Because the public cannot see this information, they are prone to follow public opinion blindly and distrust the judicial officers before them.

Collecting data to establish the "Judicial Sunshine Website" is precisely intended to allow the public to see the information of judges and prosecutors, enabling them to recognize outstanding judges and prosecutors upon seeing this data; we also expect outstanding judges and prosecutors to take pride in the data on the Judicial Sunshine Website.

Next, we will continue to develop the second phase of the Judicial Sunshine Website—the "Report Court Observation Status" feature—to encourage citizens to step into the courtroom with us and oversee judges and prosecutors.

The JRF also hopes that the government can proactively release more complete information on judges and prosecutors under appropriate licensing terms, allowing the people to see outstanding judges and prosecutors and weed out unsuited ones.

In the future, the JRF will continue to update the content of the Judicial Sunshine Website. If there are any errors in the content, everyone is welcome to write to us, and we will update it as soon as possible.

※ Judicial Sunshine Website URL: http://sunshine.jrf.org.tw

Attendees

Director, Open Culture Foundation / Dr. Li Po-feng
Chairman, Judicial Reform Foundation / Attorney Lin Yung-sung
Standing Executive Member, Judicial Reform Foundation / Attorney Kao Yung-cheng
CEO, Judicial Reform Foundation / Attorney Kao Jung-chih

Press Contacts

Judicial Reform Foundation / CEO Kao Jung-chih