Shilin District Court Decides to Terminate Judicial Assistant Over Illegal and Inappropriate Conduct

According to a report by Central News Agency, the Shilin District Court in Taipei announced today that its performance evaluation committee has decided to terminate a judicial assistant surnamed Chen due to illegal and inappropriate conduct. The termination will take effect tomorrow.

The court stated that on May 26, Chen entered the office area of the chief bailiff without authorization and rummaged through documents on the desk, thereby infringing upon the chief bailiff’s official duties and interfering with the order of business operations. Additionally, between approximately 10:11 a.m. and 10:19 a.m. on May 21, Chen used a recording device outside the office of Presiding Judge A to secretly record and eavesdrop on a non-public official conversation between Presiding Judge A and Presiding Judge B.

On May 30, Chen posted on the social media platform Threads, referring to a 'presiding judge second only to the court president' and a 'presiding judge with reading difficulties in the administrative division,' and included statements such as 'don’t be ungrateful—I can simply move a finger and have you killed.' These remarks constitute serious insults and threats toward superiors and significantly damage the court’s reputation.

Furthermore, during a public bus ride outside official duties, Chen engaged in a dispute with the driver and disclosed their workplace and job title. A passenger recorded the incident and uploaded it to Threads, sparking online criticism. Subsequently, Chen posted further derogatory remarks online, calling the driver a 'madman from Red Bus Line 12,' which further damaged the court’s public image.

After deliberation, the Performance Evaluation and Review Committee concluded that Chen’s actions violated the Civil Servants Service Act and涉嫌 criminal offenses under the Criminal Code, rendering them clearly unfit for duty. The committee resolved to terminate Chen’s employment, effective the following day. The court emphasized that this decision is based solely on Chen’s illegal conduct and is entirely unrelated to their prior complaint of workplace bullying, thus not violating regulations concerning the safety and protection of civil servants in performing their duties.

Chen had filed a complaint on May 22 alleging workplace bullying by six judicial assistants and the chief bailiff but withdrew it on May 27. The Protection Committee therefore decided not to proceed with the case. However, on June 5, Chen filed another complaint alleging bullying by other judicial assistants and supervisors, prompting the Protection Committee to form an investigation team.

Regarding the allegations of intimidation and violations of the Personal Data Protection Act, the case has already been referred to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office for investigation. The court also denied media reports claiming that judicial assistants face increased workloads without equivalent compensatory leave or overtime pay, stating such reports are factually inaccurate.