Judicial Yuan passed draft for plea-bargaining system
E021018Y6 Nov. 2002（E39）
The Judicial Yuan yesterday (Oct 17) passed the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law in respect of plea-bargaining system. It is estimated that as much as seventy percent of all he criminal cases will be disposed of through plea-bargaining after the new system has been made into law in the future. Prosecutors and judges then will be allowed to be more focused on economic, financial or other major cases attracting public attention, and it will also help upgrade the quality of and time needed for handling cases.
On the other hand, the new system is also provided with compensatory measures for the injured parties as a means to balance and to protect for the right of the injured. The judge or prosecutor may, depending on the individual cases, consult the injured party's opinion during the plea-bargaining procedure, as well as order the defendant to pay a considerable amount of compensation to the injured party.
In the United States where plea-bargaining has been practiced by the U.S. judicial organization for many a year, up to ninety percent of the cases to date have been resolved through plea-bargaining. Our plea-bargaining system, which has been modeled after the U.S. one, can be applied to cases in which the crimes of defendants are not punishable with capital punishment, life imprisonment or a principal jail term exceeding three years, either during the investigation stage or in the middle of trial.
