TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The head of an international coalition of death penalty abolitionists has criticized a scholar for saying that it is “dangerous” for the constitutional court to abolish the death penalty.
On Tuesday (April 23) Taiwan’s constitutional court debated the constitutionality of the death penalty. In response, Honorary Professor in the Department of Law at Kainan University Cheng Shan-yin (鄭善印) argued it would be dangerous for just the court’s justices, to decide the issue.
Opinion polls have shown that 87.8% of Taiwanese oppose the abolition of the death penalty.
Director of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty Aurelie Placais told Taiwan News she disagreed with Cheng’s argument that it would be inappropriate for the court to potentially overrule public opinion. She said that because the court hands down the death sentence the courts should be able to determine if that practice is continued.
“It is really an exceptional punishment, and the court is imposing that sentence, so they of course should have a say in whether it is constitutional or not,” Placais said. She added that of the countries that have abolished the death penalty, about half have done so through a constitutional process, and half through a legislative process.
According to the Taiwan NGO, Taiwan Innocence Project, seven people sentenced to death in Taiwan have subsequently been found innocent. “The judiciary is aware that there are flaws, and there will always be room for miscarriage of justice no matter how good your judicial system is,” Placais said.
Placais expressed understanding for those who call for the death penalty when severe crimes are committed but maintained that states should not be able to kill their citizens. “When something terrible happens, you want the person to be punished. It’s a very emotional response, and it's normal,” she said.
“But it should not be the answer of the state. The state has a duty to protect its citizens, no matter who they are, and there are ways to protect society that do not involve the death penalty.”
Asked if President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should intervene in her final days as president to overturn the death penalty, Placais said she should not. “I think it’s something for the court to decide, it should not be something political."
The issue of the death penalty was politicized during Taiwan’s general election in January. Candidates from the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) supported capital punishment, with the former accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of de-facto abolition.
On the campaign trail then DPP candidate President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said that a high degree of public support would be needed to abolish the death penalty. Meanwhile, TPP candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) argued the high level of public support in Taiwan for the death penalty stemmed from its long-time use in Chinese societies.
However, Placais refuted this “cultural” argument for the death penalty. “Countries that execute the most people have nothing in common,” she said.
The states that executed the largest number of people in 2022 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the U.S. Placais pointed out that these five countries have different religions, systems of government, and cultures.
“So it's very difficult for us when we look at the broader picture to understand what is really a cultural value when there are so many different countries that have the death penalty and that use it.”