The article below was written by Mr. Hsu Wen-Bin, who is a lawyer and a honorary board member of a human rights group in Taiwan. In this article, the author started with the decision by Taipei District Court on Dec. 20 to suspend the trial of one of the cases against President Chen. Of course, this case is a bogus case, accusing President Chen of stealing classified documents when he packed several boxes of documents for his presidential memoir and transferred them to his ex-president office. All these boxes are still sealed because he was soon placed under custody.

Mr. Hsu argued that if President Chen is too sick to stand trial for this case, Ministry of Justice (MOJ) should also review if his health condition also renders him too sick to be imprisoned.

The medical report on President Chen's health, submitted by Dr. Chen Shuen-Sheng, identifies several severe illnesses which carry unpredictable fatal risks. Based on Taiwan's criminal law (No. 467-4), "if someone's illness could lead to the risk of death under the imprisonment condition, the imprisonment should be suspended." Mr. Hsu pointed out that not only President Chen's illness has met the condition of medical parole (the medical needs could not be met by the prison medical facilities) but also this imprisonment suspension condition; therefore, MOJ should suspend his sentences until he recovers. Mr. Hsu believes suspending the sentence of President Chen is legal, humane, and respectful toward the presidency, and it will improve the racial harmony within the Taiwan society and reduce the partisanship.

Jay Tu 2013-12-23

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從法律與人權談—陳前總統依法應可停止執行

◎ 許文彬

台北地院就繫屬中的陳水扁前總統涉嫌侵占機密公文一案，於十二月二十日裁定「停止審判」；理由是根據高雄長庚醫院榮譽副院長所作醫療鑑定報告，認其有「生命及健康上難以預測的風險」，不堪舟車勞頓及在庭問答，符合刑事訴訟法第二百九十四條第二項所定「因疾病不能到庭」的停止審判事由。

然則，陳前總統的病情既經法院確認符合「停止審判」的要件，於此情況下，是否也符合另案「停止執行」的要件，值得指揮執行陳前總統三審確定案件服刑的檢察官注意審酌，以維受刑人之司法人權。

依刑事訴訟法第四百六十七條第四款規定，執行徒刑受刑人，如果「現罹疾病，恐因執行而不能保其生命」，則檢察官可以指揮「於其痊癒前，停止執行」。

觀乎前述醫師專業之鑑定，確認陳前總統患有腦神經退化症，合併中度巴金森氏症候群、重度憂鬱等，疑似出現妄想症及自殺念頭。且有中度語言障礙、失智、尿失禁、重度睡眠呼吸中止症。參酌前述台北地院的綜合判斷結果，陳前總統的疾病顯然已達「恐因執行而不能保其生命」之嚴重程度。

監察院曾於今年二月間通過「調查報告」，建議法務部矯正署給予陳前總統「保外就醫」，而法務當局則予移送醫院治療迄今。那是因監獄行刑法第五十八條第一項規定，「受刑人現罹疾病，在監內不能為適當之醫治」，矯正署得斟酌情形，報請法務部許可保外醫治，抑或移送病監或醫院。

而今，陳前總統的病況，已不僅只是「在監內不能為適當醫治」而已，甚且業已達到「恐因執行而不能保其生命」的深層地步。因此已超越「監獄行刑法」規範之層次，應該適用「刑事訴訟法」所定「停止執行」，始符司法人權之標準。

再參酌卸任總統禮遇條例之立法精神，陳前總統具有「卸任總統」的法定身分，執行檢察官於審酌是否符合「停止執行」要件時，自宜從寬裁量。更考慮台灣社會族群和諧，避免內部政治對立內耗，法務、檢察當局若允予陳前總統「停止執行」，盼能盡早拍板處理，相信應可獲得各方立場之諒解。

（作者為律師、中華人權協會名譽理事長）

自由時報 2013-12-23