中文版本

17 April 2025, Taipei — On March 24, 2025, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government announced a draft amendment to the Regulations for Executing the Death Penalty, marking a severe regression in Taiwan’s commitment to constitutional due process and human rights.

The amended Regulations, officially promulgated on April 16 following a brief public consultation period beginning March 24, are set to take effect on April 18. They drastically reduce the bar and eliminate protections that have blocked the wrongful execution of those requesting exceptional legal remedies like a retrial or a constitutional review for decades. Under the revised Regulations, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is permitted to carry out executions even while retrial or constitutional review procedures are ongoing, as long as the court has not explicitly ordered a stay of execution.

Compared to the Kuomintang (KMT) Party’s proposed referendum against the abolition of the death penalty, the DPP appears to be advancing its own agenda of “swift trials and swift executions” in a show of political one-upmanship. In response, civil society groups issue the following joint statement:

Reviving a Dark Past: Disregarding Due Process and the Constitutional Court’s Mandates

Following the 1999 wrongful execution of Chou Xun Shan, the first execution restrictions were put into place with the intention of averting such catastrophes by delaying executions while cases were being reviewed. The current amendments dismantle these crucial protections and place individuals like Chiou Ho-Shun and Wang Xin-Fu—both of whom maintain their innocence—at immediate risk. They are not just case files, but living people whose suffering from prolonged detention already amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment. Now, the government appears intent on extinguishing even their last hope for justice.

We further question the MOJ’s failure to reflect Constitutional Court Judgment No. 8 (2024), which established preliminary criteria for evaluating whether individuals on death row are legally and mentally fit for execution. Does the DPP government intend to carry out the death penalty with increased caution—or simply with greater speed? The 2024 ruling called for more deliberate and careful application of capital punishment, not for accelerated executions. The MOJ’s attempt to distort the intent of the judgment to justify hasty executions is both unacceptable and unconstitutional.

Which Global Norms Does the DPP Government Aspire To?

International Misalignment

The new policy stands in stark contrast to global human rights trends. According to Amnesty International’s most recent study in 2024, 113 countries have fully abolished the death penalty, and a total of 145 have abolished it in law or practice. Meanwhile, countries like China, North Korea, and Vietnam remain the world’s top executioners—states widely condemned for their disregard of fair trial guarantees.

Taiwan is due for its next international review in 2026 under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). When Taiwan incorporated these Covenants into domestic law in 2009, it did so with the intention of aligning with international human rights norms. The MOJ even established the “Human Rights For All” platform to coordinate treaty implementation.

Nevertheless, the DPP government's present insistence on "swift executions" contradicts these pledges. It represents a conscious break from the international human rights community in favor of immediate political advantage. Which countries are now seen as worldwide peers by the DPP government, we ask? How will it defend its actions in the review the following year? Is it still able to legitimately act as the principal agency for Taiwan's human rights responsibilities?

Call to Action

Civil society groups strongly denounce the DPP government’s revisions to the Regulations for Executing the Death Penalty and urge the MOJ to immediately reverse course. We urge the government to reverse course and not sacrifice Taiwan’s long-term international standing for short-term political gain.

Signed:

• Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty
• Taiwan Association for Human Rights
• Taiwan Innocence Project
• Taiwan Labour Front
• Covenants Watch
• Judicial Reform Foundation