The President received 22 foreign participants in the 2005 International Forum on Legal Aid, including Mrs. Helaine Barnett, president of the Legal Services Corporation.
The President's speech:
Chairman of the Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) of Taiwan Tsai Tun-ming; Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the International Forum on Legal Aid John Chen; LAF Secretary General Jerry Cheng; Director of LAF's Taipei Branch Office Joseph Lin; President of the Legal Services Corporation Helaine Barnett; Distinguished Guests from Home and Abroad; Ladies and Gentlemen: Good Morning!
First of all, on behalf of the government and the 23 million people of Taiwan, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to our distinguished guests today. Some of you have traveled from afar to participate in the 2005 "International Forum on Legal Aid." All of you are professionals devoted to legal aid services, and this forum has offered you opportunities to exchange your opinions and experiences in providing legal aid services. I believe that your discussions during this forum will make great contributions to the developments of legal aid services in countries where you come from.
In my inaugural speech in 2000, I pledged to commit government efforts to making Taiwan a "nation of human rights." I am well aware that ensuring people's equal access to the civil justice system is one of the most important and practical ways to realize human rights; therefore, after I became the president, I set judicial reform and the legislation of the Legal Aid Act as two of the priority goals of my administration. Through the tremendous efforts by the private Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Taipei Bar Association, and Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng, Taiwan's Legal Aid Act was successfully passed by the Legislature and promulgated on January 7 last year. On July 1 last year, the government-funded Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) was also established. Within a year, LAF has set up 19 branch offices nationwide and handled 17,889 cases. The foundation has offered lawyer representation for 7,640 cases and legal counsel for other thousands of cases, providing legal assistance to more than 11,000 cases altogether since it began operations. Although Taiwan's legal aid system has been established for only a year, many have recognized LAF's remarkable achievements. LAF's successful operations also demonstrate the transformation of the Taiwan society into one that is law-abiding, committed to deepening democracy, and respects human rights.
It has been my firm belief that protection of human rights forms the core and foundation of a constitutional democracy and that the government exists to enhance and protect our people's rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims: "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." The establishment of a legal aid system will help realize the universal value of human equality. It is the responsibility and obligation of a democratic government to establish, support, and promote a legal aid system. I am delighted to see that our country's legal aid system has been established during my term in office and is now up and running.
With the support from various sectors in our society, our country's legal aid system is now one-year old. There is still plenty of room for improvement in this system, and we will continue working for the betterment of this system based on our belief in democracy and determination to uphold justice. Taiwan's legal community has been earnestly expecting a successful judicial reform and the realization of justice. The implementation of the legal aid system, in a way, has met the legal community's expectation, shown progress in Taiwan's judicial reform, and brought Taiwan to connect with the world trend to pursue justice. With the legal aid system, Taiwan can have a fairer society, where the law equally protects the rich and the poor.
In closing, I would like to welcome once again our distinguished guests' participation in the "International Forum on Legal Aid." I believe that this forum, which will be routinely held in different countries in the future, will offer a great international platform for legal professionals to exchange experiences and opinions. I also hope that interested countries can study the possibility of establishing an international legal aid institution so as to achieve universal equality through providing legal aid to disadvantaged people all over the world. I would like to wish the forum great success and our distinguished guests health and happiness and a pleasant trip to Taiwan. Thank you!