Spurred by the case of Kai Kai (剴剴), the 1-year-old boy who was abused to death by two sisters, ten thousand people have signed a petition advocating for capital punishment in child abuse cases that result in the death of the child. Scholars discussed the matter at a public hearing this Thursday.
The petition, launched through an online public policy platform, proposes adding the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole for abusing a child to death to Article 271 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code. The proposal also includes adding a prison sentence of more than 10 years for abuse of minors under age 16.
A number of legal experts commented at the hearing. National Yang Ming Chao Tung University Institute of Technology Law Professor Lin Chih-Chieh (林志潔) said while she supports retaining the option of the death penalty for especially egregious cases of child abuse, she questioned whether similar penalties should be considered when other vulnerable groups, such as the disabled, become victims of abuse. Hsuan Chuang University Associate Law Professor Liu Yu-Wei (劉育偉) recommended comprehensively defining the constituent elements of abuse in criminal law in order to reform the overall social safety net and prevent cases of abuse in the first place.
Finally, Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office Prosecutor Tsai Pei-shan (蔡沛珊) pointed out that adding the death penalty to Articles 271 and 286 may violate the “Two Covenants,” referring to two crucial human rights agreements adopted by the United Nations. She emphasized the importance of pursuing justice based on legal principles and proportionality rather than pure emotion.