NEW TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The New Taipei District Court is conducting the country's first trial with citizen judges present on Tuesday (July 18) following the adoption of the Citizen Judge Act in early 2023.
The court will examine the case of a 60-year-old woman that killed her 70-year-old husband last November in Sanchong District, New Taipei City, after suffering from domestic abuse for years.
In March, the prosecutor's office charged the woman with criminal homicide. The citizen judges will assist in making joint decisions at the New Taipei District Court for the second time.
According to the court, a panel of three professional judges and six lay judges will preside over the trial, and 41 open court passes were issued to the public at the first hearing. The trial will last three days and conclude with the first instance verdict on Friday (July 21) afternoon.
The six lay judges were chosen from 57 people, aged between 23 to 70 years old, each coming from different career paths, including freelance, design and service industry professionals, and retired and unemployed people with or without high-education backgrounds.
The newly introduced citizen judge system seeks to foster diverse perspectives in the courtroom and create a more transparent decision-making process.
