50th Anniversary of the Adoption of the ICCPR and ICESCR - Part 3 | WPN World People News

Attorney Nian-Tzu Lee, member of the Presidential Office Human Rights Consultative Committee, stated that government agencies while exercising their authority should understand that the people’s human rights should be respected. When encountering legal problems, people usually resort to criminal litigation and administrative litigation. Administrative agencies use their administrative authority to give commands and control and restrict the people’s rights. If unjustified enforcement of the law occurs, that will directly harm the people’s rights like property right and the right to liberty, and the threat to such rights is ubiquitous.

Attorney Nian-Tzu Lee also pointed out that Tai Ji Men tax case is a benchmark case, which has shown insufficient protection of property right and unjustified use of taxation right by the tax authorities that has caused damage to taxpayers’ human rights. Therefore, this case is very suitable for reflection on and review of the issue of human rights abuse in administrative litigation.

Professor Chun-Chieh Huang, also member of the Presidential Office Human Rights Consultative Committee, pointed out that when handling tax disputes, the administrative courts should truly maintain due process of law. When the tax authorities disobey due process of law and violate human rights, the administrative courts should act as a neutral, just, and fair third party to serve their function of upholding due process of law. He hopes that conscientious judges would correct the administrative agencies’ failure to follow the due process of law and allow human rights be implemented in each case.

Judge Chih-Hsiang Chen of Keelung District Court proposed that “Tax Speedy Trial Act” should be added. He also proposed that the following provision be added to Article 21 Paragraph1 of the Tax Collection Act: “When a taxpayer does not agree with a tax disposition and files an administrative case, after the administrative court revokes or corrects the original tax disposition and returns the case to the original agency for it to make another disposition, and if 8 years have passed since the original tax disposition was made and the case is still not concluded, then no more tax disposition should be made regarding this case. This also applies to cases belonging to administrative courts before this amendment is made.” He believes that this amendment will help resolve cases where unjustified tax bills have been repeatedly issued for years and help actualize taxpayers’ human rights.

Attorney Tien-Tsai Lin, President of the Legal Aid Foundation in Taipei, Kinmen and Matsu branch & Supervisor of the Association for Victims Support, stated that Tai Ji Men’s being persistent in upholding what is right and true for the past 20 years has served as a mirror, revealing the dark side of Taiwan’s tax laws. If it weren’t for the Tai Ji Men tax case, Taiwan’s tax laws would have remained backward like those in the 18th century. He directly stated that Tai Ji Men has allowed Taiwan’s taxpayers’ human rights to advance 200 years.

Attorney You-Chen Su, chairman of the Human Rights Protection Committee, Taiwan Bar Association & Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Association for Human Rights, pointed out that according to the presumption of innocence in criminal litigation, the burden of proof is not on the defendant. That is one of the fundamental human rights in litigation. However, in the Tax Collection Act, there is a part about the duty of cooperation from taxpayers. This is like imposing the burden of proof on a taxpayer. That is suspicious of arbitrary use and abuse of the administrative power. Administrative litigation should follow the spirit of “Speedy Trial Act” in criminal cases. When a case has been in dispute for over a certain period of time, the administrative agencies should not appeal their case and the presumption of innocence should be implemented.

Prof. Keh-Chang Gee, director of the Research Center for Taxation and Public Finance Law, College of Law, National Taiwan University, mentioned that in administrative litigation, the people are the plaintiffs and the administrative agencies are the defendants, and the people do not have the burden of proof. When doubtful that an administrative agency’s disposition is unjustified, the people only need to fulfill a simple duty of cooperation and provide a claim that the government has violated their rights, and the government should carry out its duty and start an investigation into the matter.

Prosecutor Hsi-Huai Chang of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office argued that taxation is deprivation of the people’s property. The tax agencies cannot see a taxpayer’s mistake, erroneous report of income, understatement of income, failure to report an income, or miscalculation as a crime. A judge should act like a referee in a volleyball game or tennis game, fulfill his/her duty, and maintain neutrality, and confirm the findings of fact.