Hsing Tai-chao (???) took office as head of the Supreme Prosecutors Office on Monday, becoming the 12th prosecutor-general of Taiwan’s highest prosecutorial body.
Hsing took over the post from predecessor Chiang Hui-ming (???) at an event presided over by Justice Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang (???), after Taiwan’s 113-member legislature confirmed his nomination by a 65-0 vote with 48 abstentions on April 26.
The justice minister encouraged Hsing to inspire the nation’s prosecutors to investigate national security and corruption cases to the best of their abilities, in particular ahead of the upcoming nationwide local government elections in November.
Promising to improve the quality of prosecutors’ investigations, Hsing pledged to fully protect prosecutorial independence, impartiality, and neutrality as called for in the Constitution.
He also said it was important to safeguard the independence and impartiality of prosecutors by averting outside intervention.
He noted that a task force had been set up to assist prosecutor Chen Lung-hsiang (???) after he was impeached for a second time by the Control Yuan on May 6 over a 2014 case involving then Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Tuan Yi-kang (???).
Chen was first impeached by the Control Yuan on May 14, 2019 and was criticized for failing to follow legal procedures and for closing the case rashly.
In response to the impeachment, the Disciplinary Chamber of the Disciplinary Court under the Judicial Yuan decided on June 30, 2020 that Chen should not be punished based on the principle of protection against double jeopardy and questions over whether the impeachment was carried out in compliance with fair judgment and due legal procedures.
The Control Yuan launched a second impeachment of Chen on May 6, however, leading to the formation of the task force mentioned by Hsing to help the prosecutor.
Tuan, who was campaigning for DPP candidate Wei Ming-gu (???) for Changhua County magistrate in that year’s local elections, accused Kuomintang candidate Lin Tsang-min (???) of embezzling funds from a hockey association.
Following an investigation, Chen decided not to prosecute Lin, citing a lack of evidence.
Lin later took legal action against the pair for defamation and won the lawsuit.
Speaking at the takeover ceremony, Chiang, the outgoing prosecutor-general of the Supreme Prosecutors Office, lamented that the case had seemingly evolved from a dispute between politicians to one that eroded prosecutors’ independence.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel