President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of June 18 said that many people have strong beliefs on the topic of ending capital punishment. However, it is important to reach a social consensus on the issue, he said. This topic requires a broad social consensus reflected in the law and education for it to be effectively promoted. Based on current trends, he said, the possible directions for Taiwan in the future could be the lengthening of prison terms, stricter conditions on granting parole to persons sentenced to life imprisonment, and a reduction in the carrying out of the death penalty.
President Ma made the remarks when meeting with a delegation of representatives from international non-governmental organizations seeking an end to capital punishment. The delegation was led by Professor Thomas S. Rice.
President Ma first welcomed the delegation to Taiwan and he praised Professor Rice for his many years of teaching in law schools at American universities as well as his aggressive efforts to abolish the death penalty. The president said that he began serving as Justice Minister in 1993 and the following year the first public survey in history was held on Taiwan on the question of whether to keep or abolish the death penalty. He said that the survey was aimed at three groups and the results were actually quite startling. The results showed that 72% of the ordinary public were opposed to abolishing the death penalty, while 78% of society's elite were against abolishing capital punishment and 88% of judges were also opposed to ending the death penalty. However, when asked if they believed that the death penalty was an effective deterrent to criminal behavior, less than half the respondents believed that it was. The president noted the contradiction in the results. He said that he is aware that the Ministry of Justice in February of this year also carried out an opinion poll on this topic and the results showed that nearly 80% of respondents opposed an end to the death penalty. However, if serious offenders were sentenced to longer prison terms and parole was made more difficult to obtain for those who were sentenced to life imprisonment, 56% of respondents then supported abolishment of the death penalty. President Ma stressed that there remains a considerable degree of debate on Taiwan as to the question of whether to maintain or abolish the death penalty.
President Ma furthermore said present Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng is a noted human rights lawyer and that she personally supports abolishing the death penalty. However, Minister Wang also realizes that this topic requires a consensus within society and under the law before it can be pushed forward. The president said the Taiwan society's views on whether to keep or abolish the death penalty have changed significantly compared with when he headed up the Ministry of Justice. He said the ministry still needs to continue with education- and legal amendment-related work in order to try and change public opinion. He stressed that while many people have strong beliefs on this topic, social consensus is vital.