Ex-juvenile judge banned from bench for 3 years over rampant misconduct

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) A former juvenile court judge with a lengthy record of misconduct, including forcing a defendant to slap themselves and kneel to apologize to their parents, has been banned from the bench for three years, a Disciplinary Court ruling said Monday.

Chou Ching-ni (周靜妮), who was suspended from her position by the Judicial Yuan in 2022 and later resigned, was formally removed from office and banned from the bench for three years, ruled the court, which is responsible for the disciplining of civil servants in Taiwan.

The ruling can be appealed.

The Disciplinary Court's decision followed investigations by a judicial evaluation committee and the Control Yuan.

Those investigations found that Chou, a former prosecutor, engaged in misconduct after being transferred to the Miaoli District Court in 2009, where she served as a judge in the criminal and civil divisions before being assigned to juvenile court.

During her tenure, Chou amassed a record of unexplained absences, inconsistent rulings, unauthorized cancellations of hearings and use of court documents, and improper reliance on subordinates, the investigations found.

She also showed a frequent lack of discipline and self-control, according to the probes.

The investigations cited one example in 2015, in which Chou received a request from prosecutors to hold a detention hearing for a defendant while she was on call.

In order to avoid a late-night court hearing, Chou instructed a bailiff to tell the defendant that if they refused to sit for questioning at night, she would offer them bail.

Meanwhile, in a 2019 trial involving a defendant charged with beating up their father, Chou forced the youth to slap themselves in the face 23 times in order to understand how it felt, and then kneel to apologize to their parents, the investigations found.

The probes also uncovered a 2021 case before Chou, in which one party applied to withdraw from mediation. Upon receiving the request, Chou called the person on the phone, and warned that if they did not retract their application, she "might" grant the other party custody of their child.

While facing her own disciplinary proceedings in 2021, Chou also improperly accessed and photocopied related documents, and threatened the person assigned to facilitate the handover following her suspension, the investigations found.

According to the Civil Servants Disciplinary Sanctions Act, the Disciplinary Court's ruling means that Chou will be banned from serving as a judge for a period of three years.

If she is reappointed after that period, she will also be barred from holding a supervisory position for an additional two years.