Ex-judge ordered to pay higher compensation for privacy offenses

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) A former Taoyuan District Court judge on Wednesday was ordered to pay NT$450,000 (US$14,285) in compensation to a female co-worker, having previously been found guilty of infringing her privacy in a case dating back to 2020, according to the Taiwan High Court.

In its verdict, the high court rejected an appeal filed by Tsai Cheng-yu (蔡政佑), after the lower court instructed him to pay NT$400,000 in compensation in a civil lawsuit brought by a female judge surnamed Tseng (曾) for infringing her privacy by secretly taking pictures of Line images and text messages that appeared on the screen of the office computer she was using.

The high court's ruling can still be appealed.

In October 2021, the high court upheld a lower court's ruling that determined Tsai was guilty of engaging in the illegal act and sentenced him to five months in prison under the Criminal Code.

The verdict was final and could not be appealed.

In its ruling in 2021, the high court said Tsai was convicted of infringing Tseng's privacy after glancing at intimate photos and Line texts that popped up on her office computer screen on May 25, 2020, when he was alone in the office.

Believing Tseng was engaged in an extramarital affair, Tsai reported the matter to then Taoyuan District Court President Chiu Jui-hsiang (邱瑞祥).

Chiu called Tseng in for questioning, but she denied having an extramarital affair, saying that she had got divorced and was in a relationship with a divorced man. She also showed Chiu her national ID card to prove she was single, the ruling said.

Keen to know who had informed on her, Tseng installed a keyhole camera which captured footage of Tsai using her computer on June 17 the same year and taking more than 20 photos of images on her computer screen, it said.

Tsai was removed from his judicial post and suspended from duty for two years by the Disciplinary Court in 2022.