Wang Longchang's case was finally acquitted, and the public called for the expedited promotion of the "Four Laws of Justice"

After 14 years of relief efforts, former Taipei University of Technology professor Wang Longchang was finally reversed and acquitted. The Civilian Judicial Reform Foundation also called for the amendment of the "Four Redress of Injustice Laws" to be promoted as soon as possible, hoping that there will be no next wronged person. Although the 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform passed a resolution recommending that the government consider setting up an independent "criminal case review mechanism," Taiwan has not yet established an independent institution similar to the British Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

According to the current system, after a guilty verdict is determined, if the original verdict is to be overturned, statutory relief channels such as retrial and extraordinary appeals are still available. The Ministry of Justice also established the "Guilty Case Review Mechanism" in 2017. The High Prosecutor's Office will set up a review committee to re-examine the guilty cases that have been rejected for retrial or extraordinary appeal. In addition to prosecutors, the members can also invite forensic scientists, forensic experts, criminal law scholars, lawyers and retired judicial officers to participate, and no less than half of the committee members must be non-prosecutors.

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Civil society believes that the current system is still insufficient. In 2024, the Judicial Reform Committee and the Association for the Redress of Injustices proposed the "Four Laws for Redress of Injustices," advocating the establishment of an "Injustice Relief Committee" in the Supervisory Yuan to investigate unjust cases, and the establishment of a "Post-criminal Case Review Tribunal" in the Judicial Yuan, hoping to form a dedicated system for the investigation and retrial of unjust cases. However, there has been no concrete progress so far.

Under the current system, whether an unjust case can be redressed depends on luck.

Wang Longchang's case went through lengthy relief procedures such as extraordinary appeals and retrials before he was finally acquitted. The Judicial Reform Commission stated that Professor Wang Longchang was even considered lucky. In the current system, the three paths to review and determine the verdict are not easy to follow: the door to retrials is narrow and heavy. Extraordinary appeals are subject to double review and have long-term conflicts with retrials. Even though the Supervisory Yuan has the power to investigate, it has no power to initiate judicial relief.

The Judicial Reform Commission calls on the current system limits for retrial thresholds, extraordinary appeals and Supervisory Yuan investigations, and whether an unjust case can be re-examined should not depend on whether the case encounters a prosecutor willing to re-investigate or other accidental factors.