29 March 2019 :
Premier Su Tseng-chang on 28 March 2019 approved draft amendments to the Criminal Code that could see drunk drivers deemed to have caused fatalities with murderous intent sentenced to death.
During the weekly Cabinet meeting, Su approved planned changes to the code, which are to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review.
A proposed addendum to Article 185, Clause 3 of the code says that people who have been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including those who have been granted probation, drive under the influence within five years of their conviction or receiving probation, resulting in a fatality, they shall be sentenced to life or a prison term of at least seven years.
People who drive under the influence within five years of a conviction or receiving probation, resulting in serious injury, would be given a prison term of five to 12 years, it says.
Those who are deemed to have caused fatalities with the intent to murder shall be tried under Article 22, meaning that they would be sentenced to 10 years in prison, a life sentence or the death penalty.