COR Point 64 Administration of Justice (Articles 9, 10 and 14)
As stated in the Experts’ Concluding Observations and Recommendations, the existing Criminal Speedy Trial Act reduced the maximum length of criminal trials to eight years. Although this time limit is shorter than the time used in many criminal trial proceedings in Taiwan, it still signifies a waste of the lifetime of the people affected. Unfortunately, concerned agencies and the Legislative Yuan have yet to review this provision or propose revisions.
Examination of the original intent of the Criminal Speedy Trial Act shows that the eight-year restriction should include time used for appeals. Hence, the statement by the Experts that “there are no corresponding time limits imposed on the Supreme Court, which often repeatedly revokes the High Court judgements and remands the case back to the High Court for repeated retrials” may reflect a misunderstanding of the provisions of this act.