Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian called on lawyers Monday to continue to serve as a bridge between the government and the people to realize judicial reforms in Taiwan.
Chen made the appeal while addressing a meeting held by the National Bar Association of the Republic of China to celebrate Lawyer's Day, which falls on Sept. 9.
Chen, a former maritime lawyer, spoke highly of the bar in Taiwan for their valuable contributions in safeguarding social justice and the protection of human rights while promoting the democratic rule of law in the country.
Hailing the democratic rule of law as one of the most outstanding achievements made by Western civilized nations, Chen said he understands that the job of a lawyer is to help promote the rule of law and play an indispensable role in maintaining social order and justice.
Chen went on to say that laws are the basis of government policies, the norms in people's lives and social justice.
In the past authoritarian era, the law failed to effectively safeguard human rights, Chen noted, quoting the wrongful imprisonment of Lei Chen, the publisher of "Free China" magazine, as an example.
Lei, who was a prominent activist of the democratic movement in Taiwan in the 1960s, was arrested Sept. 4, 1960 for violating the Sedition Law and was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military tribunal, although there appeared to be no evidence proving the charges. "From the just-released files concerning Lei's trial and his imprisonment," Chen said, "we can see that the then-president called a meeting attended by ranking officials and ordered that Lei's jail term should not be less than 10 years."
Chen claimed that "such a sentence given to Lei without trial" was one of the best proofs that jurisprudence in Taiwan was interdicted by politics. "Consequently, I decided to walk out of the court to strive for the promotion of Taiwan's democratic rule of law and the protection of human rights," the president pointed out. "We have accomplished the transition of power between different political parties in Taiwan after 20 years of painstaking efforts, " he said, adding that his government looks forward to carrying out the far-reaching task of judicial reforms in the near future, he added.