Today's course, the title is state power and the due process. It may sound a little bit abstract. What we're really talking about would be how the criminal justice system, or criminal court would really function in Taiwan's legal framework. The reason that I choose to use the title as state power and the due process, is because I don't want the learners just focus on all the articles that we are going to introduce, or all the articles of Taiwan's criminal law or criminal proceedings so that they will focus on the articles too much, that they lose the spirit of what criminal procedure system is really about. What it really about is actually the state power and due process. Of course, that's just one dimension of the whole criminal justice system. But I could say that's one of the most fundamental and the most crucial features of criminal justice system. There is one thing I really need your help, which is, I hope that when I go through with you every aspect and every point of this course, I hope that you can try to connect your understanding and your experience of your own jurisdiction and your own system. If you were not a law student or you have little understanding of your legal system in your own country, or in your own jurisdiction, that's alright. Because as a citizen living in modern society, you definitely would hear about something related to criminal justice in your country. For example, when you are reading a newspaper article, it's very possible that you would hear something about some criminal offenses or something about criminals or something about, for example, the death penalty. Usually that would be an important issue in almost all the jurisdictions. Because even in a jurisdiction which the death penalty has already been abolished, even for a period of time. There are still usually the citizens in the society would like to reinstate that death penalty or other criminal punishment to maintain the social order or improve the security of a society. As you can see, that criminal justice system is something just around us, or on the other hand, you could also say, we are actually leaving in the criminal justice system. But just sometimes in a more explicit way, and other times maybe in a more implicit ways. What I need you to help me is to try to connect what I'm going to teach you, and what you already in your own system and in your own society about the criminal justice dimension. If you are ready, then we can start this course. First of all, it is not a course, as I said, that simply introduce Taiwan's criminal law and procedure. Because first of all, I can imagine that how difficult it would be if you have no understanding about what a legal system of any country is, or it will still be very difficult if you are from another jurisdiction. When you know something about your own system, just trying to learn a foreign law is not an easy thing to do. What I'm going to focus today will be on how Taiwan's criminal justice system work within the framework of constitutional and legal rights. In terms of this class, of course, we will need some introductions to some constitutional or legal articles. But at the same time, I also hope that we can focus more how the rules of the criminal justice system will work when they are working under the framework of the criminal procedure and criminal proceedings and criminal law articles. The rules who are important in the system are usually police, prosecutors, judges, and the defense attorney as well. These are the rules that I'm going to use them as example when I am explaining and also interpret the articles during this whole class. There are all six key learning points, we will call them KLPs from time to time that I want to cover in this course. You can also use these KLPs to help you to understand that how much you already understand about the topics that we're going to introduce today. When we are actually proceeding to teach these key learning points, I hope that you can just focus on what the learning point is right now, and then how it can connect to another key learning points. Because the whole criminal justice system is not just one thing or a one-dimensional system. Actually is more multiple dimensions would come together to form this system. At the same time, I can not just introduce six key learning points at the same time, but I will introduce them one by one. At the same time I will tell you that what the connections, what are the ties between this key learning points, so that you would have a more understanding of the multiple dimensions of this system. These key learning points include the first one we will start from introducing some major constitutional rights. The first one we're going to introduce is what we usually call the personal liberty. The second thing, which is also another, or I should say, the order in this class, that they are also the major constitutional rights is the right to judicial remedy and then from right to judicial remedy and from the right to the personal liberty. We can just bring about more fundamental rights they're both constitutional rights and the legal rights in Taiwan's legal system. For example, we will cover Right to silence as the third key learning point. That's very important, constitutional and legal rights for the criminal defendant to exercise, to implement when they are interrogated, when they are being asked questions by the officials from the Ministry of Justice or from the police agencies. Also the criminal defendants would need another right, which is called Right to Counsel, which is the forth key learning points that we are going to cover today. Right to Counsel basically means that the defendant should have the rights that they can request the assistance from attorneys, from defense lawyers. If you have any understanding of your own jurisdiction in terms of the criminal justice system, you may think about some cases or for example, newspaper articles that you have ever read about some criminal defendants may be prevented from obtaining a lawyer that he or she trusted in a certain case for a certain reason. Because in different jurisdictions that people may have different understanding or have different limitations on how much a counsel can really help the defendant. Because always remember there is bright side and dark side of a thing. The bright side, when we see that the Right to Counsel is very important time for the defensive strategy. At the same time, you could also say the Right to Counsel would in a way and to a certain degree, to affect the normal and the regular proceeding of Criminal Court. If you were a prosecutor in any jurisdiction, I guarantee that you would not like the criminal defense lawyer too much, especially when a criminal defense lawyer is better. You may dislike it even more because a good defense lawyer, may use all things that he know and lawfully to block or interfere with the procedures that the prosecutor or even sometimes the judge who wants to proceed. That way could be considered as part of the dark side of the story. Then the fifth point, we're going to talk about the Right to a Fair Trial. The right to fair trial sounds something you don't need you discuss it too much because that's the thing everybody or every jurisdiction, every country wants which is true of course, that all of the citizens want to have the right to a fair trial. But in this point, we're going to defy that. What is a fair trial? Is it a way that more fair to try a person, try a criminal defendant, then another? Would what we say late participation in which Court is actually formed by laypeople who don't have legal professional knowledge or sometimes all of them, like the jury system in the Anglo Americans legal system or some of the laypeople who don't have professional legal knowledge would work together was the professional lawyers or judges together to form a Court to try a case. Can we say that America, for example, jury system is better than, for example, the German or European Continental System of professional judges? Can we say that trial system has a certain features would be definitely better than another one? That's the point that we're going to talk about and cover in the fifth key learning point. To the last point, which is the sixth one well, would be about judicial reform on lay participation and the death penalty in Taiwan system. These are two individual topics which are the most important. Well, I have to say there have been most important topics that people in Taiwan are cared about. But that's not the only thing that we will talk about today. Today from the key learning points introduction, you will see that how we will start from the major constitutional rights and to derive from there and to extend to more important constitutional and legal rights in practice and also in theory as well. Then we will directly go to the judicial reform, which is important, especially in Taiwan on lay participation and the death penalty issue. That's generally the six key learning points I'm going to introduce to you today. At the same time as I remind you in the very beginning of this course, I hope that you can try to connect your own experience and understanding from your own country or own jurisdiction and your own criminal justice system to what you are going to learn about Taiwan's situation as a reflection of the criminal justice system.
