"Time for a judicial makeover?" This is a report I read from Law in Action of BBC News today.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/law_in_action/7495199.stm)
Despite the dissenting opinions, Carole Malone of the News of the World says that judges in the U.K. are not only largely out of touch but also belong to a pass-the-port culture of a long time ago. David Rigg, the managing director of the communications consultancy Project Associates, even suggests judges engage with the media with care. Well, this is definitely not just a UK story. Judges in Taiwan are also facing the same scenario for quite a long time, too. There is even an old and bad joke about it!
Before the joke, there is something needed to explain first. If we literally translate the Chinese slang of “blow job” into English, it will be close to “play the trumpet.”
One day, while a judge tried to devote all his attention to a sexual-harassment trial, he had his patience to ask the pale and still panic victim to describe all the facts. The victim sobbed out her story. She said, “He just kept grabbing my butt and asking me if I could play the trumpet for him, even after I said No firmly” With a long deliberation, the judge finally said, “It seems that the trumpet is the most crucial evidence but why I don’t see it among all the evidence? You need to submit it to the court!
Well, the joke just reveals that judges in Taiwan are also considered to be out of touch, however, this is a very old joke and I have confidence that most of judges are not living in the ivory tower anymore. But why do the public still consider that judges are those people who will ask them why not enjoy meat while they don’t even have any rice to eat?
Is it because their decisions are always too dense, too ambiguous or too ideal for the public to understand? I have to admit that even after 8 years legal training, sometimes I still want to ask those judges. “Do you speak Chinese?” or “Are you sure you are writing in Chinese?” As a result, it’s not hard to imagine there will sure be a certain distance between our judiciary and the public.
Another reason I think it’s because of the bloody media. The media in Taiwan is always interested in those decisions that seem to against our common knowledge when we skip the reasoning and only skim over the conclusion. Somehow the bloody media in Taiwan tries to mislead the public and convince them that our judiciary can be controlled by a certain political party or a certain person. But, is it all the media that should be blamed? Well, despite having a bloody media here, I always believe people should still have their own will to make their own decision. They can turn off the TV at least!
Should judges try to defend their own decisions outside of the court? I am not so sure if we can expect judges remain neutral after having some interviews with the media? Maybe the judges in the U.K. can, but can we? If everything can’t be explained or understood in a court decision then what kind of decision is that? But how can we do nothing but let the media in Taiwan keep disguise the correct information to the public? So, is it time for a makeover? I’ll definitely say yes. But maybe not just only for our judiciary and our media, most important for our people!!
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/law_in_action/7495199.stm)
Despite the dissenting opinions, Carole Malone of the News of the World says that judges in the U.K. are not only largely out of touch but also belong to a pass-the-port culture of a long time ago. David Rigg, the managing director of the communications consultancy Project Associates, even suggests judges engage with the media with care. Well, this is definitely not just a UK story. Judges in Taiwan are also facing the same scenario for quite a long time, too. There is even an old and bad joke about it!
Before the joke, there is something needed to explain first. If we literally translate the Chinese slang of “blow job” into English, it will be close to “play the trumpet.”
One day, while a judge tried to devote all his attention to a sexual-harassment trial, he had his patience to ask the pale and still panic victim to describe all the facts. The victim sobbed out her story. She said, “He just kept grabbing my butt and asking me if I could play the trumpet for him, even after I said No firmly” With a long deliberation, the judge finally said, “It seems that the trumpet is the most crucial evidence but why I don’t see it among all the evidence? You need to submit it to the court!
Well, the joke just reveals that judges in Taiwan are also considered to be out of touch, however, this is a very old joke and I have confidence that most of judges are not living in the ivory tower anymore. But why do the public still consider that judges are those people who will ask them why not enjoy meat while they don’t even have any rice to eat?
Is it because their decisions are always too dense, too ambiguous or too ideal for the public to understand? I have to admit that even after 8 years legal training, sometimes I still want to ask those judges. “Do you speak Chinese?” or “Are you sure you are writing in Chinese?” As a result, it’s not hard to imagine there will sure be a certain distance between our judiciary and the public.
Another reason I think it’s because of the bloody media. The media in Taiwan is always interested in those decisions that seem to against our common knowledge when we skip the reasoning and only skim over the conclusion. Somehow the bloody media in Taiwan tries to mislead the public and convince them that our judiciary can be controlled by a certain political party or a certain person. But, is it all the media that should be blamed? Well, despite having a bloody media here, I always believe people should still have their own will to make their own decision. They can turn off the TV at least!
Should judges try to defend their own decisions outside of the court? I am not so sure if we can expect judges remain neutral after having some interviews with the media? Maybe the judges in the U.K. can, but can we? If everything can’t be explained or understood in a court decision then what kind of decision is that? But how can we do nothing but let the media in Taiwan keep disguise the correct information to the public? So, is it time for a makeover? I’ll definitely say yes. But maybe not just only for our judiciary and our media, most important for our people!!
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