ABSTRACT
In July 1999, responding to public opinion urging for reform, the Judicial Yuan held the “National Judicial Reform Conference.” It was the first time the Judicial Yuan responded to demands for judicial reform in a public way. The Conference came to a total of 49 conclusions, reflecting to a considerable extent the social pressure for judicial reform, and in that sense, the conference has been a milestone in the history of judicial reform in Taiwan. In the development of contemporary states, state powers have gradually been divided into three fields: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. State patterns have moved from the authoritarian state, with its concentration of state powers, to the constitutional system, with the separation of powers. In this evolutionary process, people have been gradually recognizing the function of the judiciary and the necessity of its independence.
