Capital punishment in Taiwan
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Taiwan. The long list of capital offences, for which the death penalty can be imposed, includes murder, treason, drug trafficking, piracy, terrorism, and especially serious cases of robbery, rape, and kidnapping, as well as for military offences, such as desertion during war time. In practice, however, all executions in Taiwan since the early 2000s have been for murder.[1]
Before 2000, Taiwan had a relatively high execution rate, when strict laws surrounding capital punishment were still in effect.[2] However, controversial legal cases during the 1990s and the changing attitudes of officials towards abolition of the death penalty resulted in a significant drop in the number of executions, with only three in 2005 and none between 2006 and 2009. Executions resumed in 2010, and according to polls, more than 80% of Taiwanese people support the continued use of capital punishment.[3]
A 2024 poll found that 84% of Taiwanese oppose abolition of the Death Penalty.[4][5]
Capital offences[edit]
Under military law[edit]
The Criminal Law of the Armed Forces rules that the following crimes are eligible for the death penalty when committed by military personnel:[6]
Controversies[edit]
Organ transplantation[edit]
There are accounts of organs being removed from executed prisoners while they were not yet clinically dead.[37]
The Death Penalty Procedural Rules of Taiwan used to state that inmates who have agreed to donate their organs are shot in the head. Twenty minutes after the execution, an examination is conducted to verify the death of the condemned person. The bodies of donors are sent to hospitals for organ collection after completion of the execution is confirmed. In 2012, The Ministry of Justice announced that they would no longer approve any requests from death row inmates to donate organs;[38] Then in 2020, all relevant statutes were invalidated.[39][40][41]
According to the Human Organ Transplantation Act of Taiwan, an organ donor can only donate after being judged brain-dead by a medical doctor. When a ventilator is in use, there must be an observation period of 12 hours for the first evaluation and a four-hour period for the second evaluation to reach a judgment of brain death.
In Taiwan, there have been cases of bodies being sent to hospitals for organ collection without legal confirmation of brain death, leading to accusations that human vivisection for organ collection and transplantation is in practice in Taiwan. In one case in 1991 a prospective donor was found to be still breathing unaided when being prepared for organ collection in the Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The person was sent back to the execution ground to complete the execution. This case caused the Taipei Veterans General Hospital to refuse organ collection of executed inmates for eight years.[42]
The Hsichih Trio case[edit]
In March 1991, a Hsichih couple, Wu Ming-han and Yeh Ying-lan, were found robbed and murdered inside their apartment. In August 1991 police arrested their neighbor Wang Wen-hsiao, then serving in the ROC Marine Corps, based on Wang's bloody fingerprint found at the scene. He confessed to the murder after investigators discovered evidence of him breaking in and entering the house, but police doubted he could have killed two adults so easily and brutally without help. Under torture, Wang confessed to help from three accomplices who lived in the same community—Su Chien-ho, Chuang Lin-hsun and Liu Bin-lang.[43] These four young men further confessed that they gang raped Yeh Ying-lan during their break-in, but the autopsy of Yeh's body showed no traces of sexual assault.[44]
Wang Wen-hsiao was court-martialed and speedily executed in January 1992. The other three defendants were prosecuted under the Act for the Control and Punishment of Banditry, which stipulated compulsory death sentences for their crimes if found guilty. During their trial, the defendants repeatedly claimed they were forced to make false confessions under torture and were not guilty, but the judges did not believe them.
In February 1995, the Supreme Court of the Republic of China found against the defendants. According to the procedure, the three should then have been executed by shooting as soon as possible, but Minister of Justice Ma Ying-jeou refused to sign their death warrants and returned the whole case back to the Supreme Court in hope of a retrial, citing shortcomings such as:
Temporary moratorium from 2006 to 2009[edit]
These controversial cases apparently influenced the local judicial system.
After being elected in 2000, President Chen Shui-bian, announced that he supported the abolition of capital punishment in Taiwan.[65] In 2001, Justice Minister Chen Ding-nan called for the abolition of capital punishment within Chen's first term, but said that "only when the public accepts abolition" would the government bring forward the necessary legislation. Although the death penalty was not abolished during that period, the Justice Ministry released a position statement in 2004 ("The Policy of the Ministry of Justice of Taiwan with Regard to Abolition of the Death Penalty") which envisioned a national dialogue toward the formation of "a popular consensus for abolition" followed by abolition.[65] Under Chen, there was a major decline in capital punishment in Taiwan.[65]
Although the right to abolish the death penalty is held by the Legislative Yuan which was dominated by the opposing Pan-blue coalition, as well as being more conservative on this issue, the Democratic Progressive Party government forced a moratorium by not signing death warrants except for serious and noncontroversial cases. As a result, the number of executions dropped significantly from 2002. In an October 2006 interview, Chen Ding-nan's successor Morley Shih said he would not sign any death warrants for the 19 defendants who had already been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court, because their cases were still being reviewed inside the Ministry.[66]
These conditions remained in effect until Chen Shui-bian's tenure expired on May 20, 2008.
In May 2008, Chen Shui-bian's successor Ma Ying-jeou nominated Wang Ching-feng as the Minister of Justice. Wang opposed capital punishment and delayed every case delivered to the Minister's Office. Until March 2010, a total of 44 prisoners given death sentences by the Supreme Court were detained by the Ministry but Wang still publicly announced her strong opposition to capital punishment during media interviews. This caused controversy and the consensus suddenly broke after entertainer Pai Bing-bing (whose daughter Pai Hsiao-yen was kidnapped and murdered in 1997) held a high-profile protest against Wang. Wang, who originally refused to step down, bowed to social pressure and resigned on March 11, 2010.[67] Wang's successor Tseng Yung-fu promised premier Wu Den-yih that he would resume executions.[68] On April 30, 2010, Tseng Yung-fu ordered four executions, ending the four-year moratorium.[69][70]
2024 Constitutional Court hearing[edit]
In April 2024, a group of 37 people on Taiwan's death row, represented by lawyers Jeffrey and Nigel Li, petitioned the Constitutional Court to rule on the death penalty.[71][72]
