我國監獄受刑人申訴制度暨權利救濟途徑之探討

Prisoners' Request and Complaints Procedures in Taiwan

受刑人對於監獄措施不服時的申訴制度以及權利救濟途徑，一直都是各國重視的人權議題。然而，我國對此關注程度顯然不足，縱使近期有數個釋憲案對於受拘禁人，包含監獄受刑人及看守所受羈押者的權利救濟途徑保障做出正面的回應以及要求修法，但是我國司法實務對於這個問題卻自始採取迴避的態度，主管機關的修法也遲遲沒有明確的進展。因此，本文以下先就我國監獄受刑人之申訴暨權利救濟途徑的發展狀況做一說明，再評析監獄行刑法的修法，並提出本文的一些修法建議方向。

Prisoners’ Request and Complaints procedures have been a focal issue of inmates’ civil rights. But that is not the case in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Constitution and civil rights law, de jure, prohibit law enforcement agents from interfering with constitutionally protected rights, depriving rights under color of law, or using force to interfere with the free exercise of inmates’ civil rights on the one hand. On the other, courts and law enforcement agencies, de facto, have neglected, or even shun this issue, regardless of the fact that many recent Grand Justice Council Interpretations call for full protection of inmates’ civil rights and revision of our current defective Complaints system. Ministry of Justice, the agency in charge of the revision, thus has done nothing to improve the system. In fact, both official interference of inmates’ rights and the aforementioned indifference are serious violation of inmates’ civil rights. Studying what causes this official passiveness, and inquiring how to oblige law enforcement agencies to treat all inmates’ complaints constitutionally, are crucial to rectify the unconstitutionality of inmates’ civil rights protection in Taiwan. This research aims to pinpoint the defects in the current system and propose a legal revision. To point out the flaws, this project intends to explore the status quo of insufficient inmates’ civil rights protection under the current defective system, by examining and analyzing documents of inmates’ complaints/petitions and law enforcement agencies’ official responses to them. Furthermore, by inquiring into how the judiciary has reacted to these complaints/petitions, this project plans to illustrate the aforementioned official disregard. Thirdly, this project demonstrates the impact of many recent Grand Justice Council Interpretations have made, arguing that the current situation of inmates’ rights protection and the official indifference are unconstitutional. Finally, the project contends that the Prison Act needs a revision and introduces amendments to the Act.