Professor Wang Po-Chi gives a behind-the-scenes interview: 80% of Taiwanese support the death penalty! Inadequate supporting measures mean Taiwan can’t abolish the death penalty? ft. Wang Boqi
This episode explores three legal pathways (retrial, extraordinary appeal, and constitutional interpretation) to discuss why stays of execution are so common, the role of psychiatric evaluations in death penalty cases, whether Taiwan could potentially abolish the death penalty, and what supporting measures would be needed to convince the public.
[Highlights]
• How do the three legal pathways for stays of execution work: retrial, extraordinary appeal, and constitutional interpretation (Constitutional Court)?
• Why is it perceived as a “technical delay/sparing life”?
• The professionalism and controversy of psychiatric evaluations: The line between custody for an innocent person and a “golden ticket” for a life sentence.
• “Sole death penalty” versus “relative death penalty”: Sentencing philosophy, deterrence theory, and side effects.
• International comparison (European, Anglo-American): Why can’t other countries’ solutions be directly replicated in Taiwan? • Key proposition: Even if society moves toward abolition of the death penalty, without the necessary supporting measures (sentencing stratification, parole and amnesty logic, and custody facilities and resources), public opinion will remain unsettled.
[This episode’s host] Lan Yuming (Xiao Lan)
[Who’s Talking News] Associate Professor Wang Po-Chi, the Department of Criminal Justice at Ming Chuan University.
