The Ministry of Justice's expansion of criminal punishment has caused controversy, and legislators and experts have called for simultaneous support of human resources
Quick Look
- In order to alleviate the overcrowding in prisons, the Ministry of Justice has expanded the measures of re-examination.
- However, Zhuang Ruixiong, Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party Caucus of the Legislative Yuan, and Huang Jinqiao, a public supplementary education lecturer, pointed out that if there are insufficient manpower for phased tracking, social labor transfer, and custodial care, the re-sentencing policy may transfer the pressure from prisons to the District Prosecutor's Office and the custodial system.
- They emphasized that policy implementation needs to simultaneously review the front-line workload and resource allocation to prevent re-examination from becoming a mere formality or increasing the risk of recidivism.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
In order to deal with the problem of overcrowding in prisons, the Ministry of Justice has expanded the measures for easy punishment, including increasing the upper limit of fine installment payment from 8 to 12 installments, relaxing social labor standards for easy service, and revising the fine limit for drunk driving. It aims to allow non-violent misdemeanor inmates to transfer their sentences to the community to reduce the number of short-term prisoners.
In order to alleviate the overcrowding of prisons, the Ministry of Justice has expanded the measures to change sentences. However, the clerk reported that after the case is transferred to installment or social labor, it still needs to be tracked, called for and handled follow-up procedures, which may transfer the pressure from the prison to the District Attorney's Office. Zhuang Ruixiong, Secretary-General of the Legislative Yuan Caucus of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that the purpose of the policy is affirmed, but the front-line implementation support must be better. "We cannot reduce the pressure in prisons, but let the front line explode." Huang Jinqiao, a public supplementary education lecturer in the police and prison department, believes that if the execution and monitoring manpower are insufficient, social labor may become a mere formality, and the effectiveness of easy sentences still depends on the availability of manpower and treatment resources.
Zhuang Ruixiong pointed out that Yike fines are originally the method of execution of penalties prescribed by law. What really needs to be dealt with is the fairness of the execution of penalties. People who are also judged by the court and meet the conditions for Yike fines and have the ability to pay the fine in one go will complete the execution of the penalty; those who are unable to take out the money at once may have to go to prison because they cannot pay it. Therefore, through reasonable installments or easy-to-serve social labor, the sentence can still be carried out and financial ability can be prevented from becoming the key to completing the change of sentence. The policy direction is worthy of recognition.
Please read on...
In response to external doubts that the policy is similar to "shaoluan people", Zhuang Ruixiong emphasized that "the change of punishment does not mean exemption from punishment, nor does it mean that the crime does not need to be held accountable." The court's judgment has not changed, and the punishment has not disappeared. Changes in fines, installments or social labor are still carried out under legal regulations. Changing the execution method cannot be said to condone crime.
However, Zhuang Ruixiong also believes that the practical issues reported by front-line clerks must be faced squarely. If the execution process is re-entered after the installment is overdue, and then returned to the execution side before being completed after being transferred to social labor, and the same case is handled repeatedly, it may indeed increase the burden on the criminal execution and custody system.
"We can't just count the number of fewer people in prisons, but also how many more jobs have been added to the front line." Zhuang Ruixiong said that the Ministry of Justice should simultaneously take inventory of installment tracking, overdue processing, social labor transfer and related manpower needs, and fully listen to the opinions of the front line. He emphasized that the legal responsibilities that should be borne must still be borne, and the penalties that should be executed must also be carried out, but the conditions for Yike's fine must also be met. In the end, it should not only be "whether you can get the money" that determines whether the Yike can be completed.
Huang Huangqiao, a national examination professional lecturer who specializes in teaching criminology, prison science and prison execution law, analyzed from the perspective of criminal policy. In response to the problem of overcrowding in prisons, the Ministry of Justice and the Taiwan High Court are discussing increasing the upper limit of installment payment of fines and Yike fines from 8 to 12 installments with flexible extensions. It lengthened and deleted the requirement to submit a letter of guarantee, relaxed the social labor review standards for easy service, and revised the fine standard for drunk driving to "three or more offenses within 5 years", reflecting the implementation of the "polarized criminal policy (a combination of leniency and severity in criminal policy)" and "diversion of punishment".
Huang Jinqiao pointed out that as of August 25, 2015, correctional institutions across the country housed 67,639 people, with an excess capacity of 5,255 people. Relaxing the change of sentence can allow misdemeanor and non-violent prisoners to be transferred to the community for execution, reduce the number of short-term prisoners, and relieve prison congestion and prison pressure. However, this is not an alternative to prison reconstruction and expansion. After a large number of cases are transferred to the community, the administrative burden may also be transferred to the district attorney's office and the nursing system.
As for criminal correction and prevention of recidivism, Huang Huangqiao said that according to the labeling theory, short-term prison sentences may cause criminal cross-infection and may also interrupt social support such as work and family. Through installment payment, social labor and addiction treatment, it can help maintain the connection between the prisoner and the community and promote recovery. However, if there is insufficient enforcement and monitoring manpower, social labor supervision may become a mere formality and increase concerns about recidivism. Whether relaxing the easy sentence can achieve the correction effect depends on whether the enforcement manpower and community rehabilitation resources can be synchronized.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Ministry of Justice will convene a meeting in the next few weeks to review the first-line enforcement measures for changing sentences.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What is the specific process for overdue installment payment?
- How will the social labor supervision and assessment mechanism be implemented?
- How much additional manpower and resource support will the monitoring system receive?




