The Inquisitorial History of the Criminal Practice in Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan adopted the exclusionary rule and the hearsay rule in
2003. Since the criminal justice system is quite adversarial and
accusatorial under the 2003 amendments, it is interesting to locate
what it looked like before 2003, which might explain why Taiwan
adopted a more adversarial and accusatorial approach for law and
order in 2003. After Italy amended its continental criminal procedure
code by adopting special procedures and an adversarial model in
1988, Taiwan might be the second jurisdiction with similar continental
background to adopt an adversarial and accusatorial model of criminal
procedure in the world. In order to understand the reason why Taiwan
changed its traditional approach in criminal justice, it is desirable to
see the past inquisitorial practices. This study is aimed to introduce the
background behind the official explanation why Taiwan adopted the
exclusionary approach in its criminal justice system.