President Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Guatemala, Mr. Josué Felipe Baquiax, and his wife visited the Control Yuan (CY) on the morning of October 7, 2015, and met with CY President Chang Po-ya. The two sides had an extensive talk on government checks-and-balances systems in both countries.
President Chang extended a warm welcome to the guests and briefly introduced Taiwan’s supervision system and the CY’s work achievements. She noted that over 80 percent of the complaints handled by the CY involve human rights and that the fifth CY has generated over NT$6.8 billion in public revenue.
President Chang emphasized that the CY regularly attends annual conferences of the Federación Iberoamericana del Ombudsman (FIO) and has established long and genial relations with Latin American counterparts. She further noted that the CY and the Human Rights Public Defender Office of Guatemala plan to sign a bilateral collaboration agreement next year.
Mr. Baquiax noted in his remarks that human rights protection has come into focus in Guatemala since the enactment of the current Constitution in 1986. However, he noted that many government institutions have been challenged by insufficient budgets. Recent corruption cases involving high-ranking government officials also came as a blow. Mr. Baquiax noted that a reliable judicial power is vital to the consolidation of democracy. Thus, despite the difficulties, he adheres to rule of law and principle of transparency in handling these cases to ensure a collective supervision together with the public and the media. He expressed his hope that “the sunlight can shine again in Guatemala.”
In her closing remarks, President Chang expressed confidence that Guatemala's supreme court would win broader public trust in its judicial powers under Mr. Baquiax’s leadership. She also praised Guatemala’s regulations on verification of political donations, which she said is even stricter than Taiwan's comparable laws and offers an instructive example.
Mr. Baquiax arrived in Taiwan on October 6 at the invitation of the government of the Republic of China (ROC). During this trip, he will also sign a bilateral agreement with the ROC Judicial Yuan, and attend the ROC National Day ceremony. Also attending today’s meeting were CY Vice President Sun Ta-chuan, CY Members Jane Y. W. Chiang and Bau Tzong-ho, and Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Hai-chuan.