The Judicial Yuan Held the first Meeting to Review the Judges Code and Nail Down the Judges Code of Ethics

The Judicial Yuan has established a committee on reviewing the judge’s code to clearly define and provide guidance for the behavior of judges within and outside their official duties and activities. The first meeting was held on the 17th of February.　In the meeting, a draft of “the Judges Code of Ethics” was finalized to serve as an authorized decree in response to the approval of the Judges Law in the future as well as reaching a preliminary consensus on the issue of erecting a relevant consulting institution.

Article 13 of the Judges Law draft clearly stipulates that the judges ought to observe the Judges Code of Ethics. In 2007, the Judicial Yuan constructed a task force team in an act to create “the Judges Code of Ethics” and to be made official by the Judges Law Since that time, five meetings and one public hearing examination were conducted before they formulated “the Judges Code of Ethics draft” that contains 27 articles.　In that meeting, they focused on four main issues and their appropriateness; they consist of Guiding Principles, the Conduct of Engaging Judicial Duties, the Judicial Administration, and the Activities Outside Judicial Duties. They also consulted on the code of ethics and if it sufficiently covers the conduct and behavior of the judges and whether a proper consulting institution for the Judges Code is to be established under the drafted clause.

All participants of the meeting believed that the freedom of speech for the judges must accord with the proportionality principle and the constraint of suffrage be conducted with caution.　Also, the participants approved the structural part of the draft, other than the Guiding Principles,.　They all agreed that the code of ethics for the judges accords with the national environment and situation. Moreover, most committee members supported the establishment of a consulting institution.

In short, this meeting concluded a consensus over the four mentioned issues and the roadmap of formulation.　The next meeting will review the concrete contents of the Judges Code of Ethics based on the consensus reached in this meeting.