TAIWAN. MOJ SEEKS DEATH PENALTY AMENDMENTS

March 8, 2008: the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in Taiwan said it is seeking to amend the law so that a death sentence can only be handed down when all three judges in a case approve the sentence. Current law stipulates that a death sentence can be handed down with a majority verdict. Passage of the amendment would make death sentences more difficult to secure and thereby reduce the number of state executions.
A ministry official told the Taipei Times that the MOJ and the Judicial Yuan would cooperate to amend the law.
The ministry has also asked the Judicial Yuan to amend the law so that the Supreme Court would have to meet and debate any review of a death sentence handed by the Taiwan High Court, the official said. He said that at the moment the Supreme Court usually only reviews the legal documents but does not debate the matter.
The official said that the ministry would also ask prosecutors to no longer propose a death sentence to the court when indicting suspects accused of serious crimes. (Sources: Taipei Times, 09/03/2008)