On April 15, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Taiwan Law & Policy Research Foundation Chairman Zhong-Mo Chen was the special keynote speaker at the Zhong Zheng Hall, delivering a lecture on “Taiwan’s Rule of Law: Observations and Expectations.”

Mr. Chen is the former vice president of the Judicial Yuan and the chairman of the Taiwan Law & Policy Research Foundation. He has also taught at CPU for more than 40 years. A number of professors on campus were his students. He contributed significantly to CPU becoming an elite educational institution. Invested considerably in fostering police personnel and promoting legal institutions, he spares no effort in teaching and cultivating outstanding police.

By way of introduction, Chairman Chen shared his observations and analysis of the development of the rule of law in Taiwan over the last 60 years, in addition to citing major problems regarding its implementation. Furthermore, Chen offered perspectives on current practice of the rule of law, citing common criticisms of the legal system and the public’s diminishing confidence in the judiciary. He stated that decades of national policy, materialism, and ignorance of the rule of law in society have yielded unfortunate effects.

Finally, Chairman Chen encouraged all personnel to pay closer attention to the rule of law and its creative development. He urged all to honestly pursue the truth, as well as to increase their awareness and knowledge and insight of the rule of law, and their courage to enact it. Short-range, mid-range, and long-range goals should be formulated. To encourage the faculty members and students to abandon the restraints of conventional thinking and to integrate new thinking into solutions to societal demands, President Chen concluded with two sentences: “Observing the rule of law is the highest ethics standard obtainable by civilized peoples” and “Respecting the rights of others and developing a culture of self-rule is the fundamental objective of modern civics.”