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1.媒體來源:The Economist

2.記者署名:經濟學人

3.完整新聞標題:
Taiwan’s courts may decriminalise adultery
台灣的憲法法庭可能將通姦除罪化

Jail terms for extramarital affairs are at odds with the country’s otherwise
liberal laws
因婚外情而入獄與該國的自由法律格格不入

4.完整新聞內文:
https://imgur.com/jV0PdS6
It is an odd mix. Taiwan is the only country in Asia to have legalised gay
marriage (unless you count Australia and New Zealand). But it is also one of
the few countries in Asia, along with conservative Muslim places such as
Afghanistan and Brunei, where adultery remains a crime. From 2016 to 2019 the
police investigated more than 10,000 people they suspected of philandering.
More than 1,200 were convicted. The guilty all received fines, averaging
90,000 Taiwan dollars ($3,000). They could in theory have been jailed for up
to a year. And many straying spouses end up with a criminal record.


Worse, the weight of prosecutions falls largely on women. When husbands are
caught cheating, some wives forgive them, but insist on pressing charges
against the other woman. Cuckolded men, by contrast, tend to press charges
against both their wives and their lovers. The result is that 54% of those
convicted in recent years have been women. For other crimes in Taiwan, men
earn roughly 80% of all convictions.


The adultery law dates from 1935 and its age leads to further peculiarities.
The term it uses for adultery—tongjian—has long been held by the courts to
refer to vaginal intercourse between a man and a woman. It is not clear,
therefore, whether the law applies to gay couples, says Shawn Tsai
Ching-hsiang, the minister of justice.


What is more, the narrow definition of the crime and the reluctance of courts
to convict in the absence of clear proof have fostered a cottage industry:
private investigators attempt to demonstrate not just that a married person
has been having surreptitious trysts with someone of the opposite sex, but
also that the pair have been having intercourse. The snoops have been known
to wait outside hotel  rooms listening for moans before bursting in, camera
in hand. A couple caught together in bed once escaped conviction, notes Kuan
Hsiao-wei of National Taipei University, by claiming they were just chatting,
albeit naked. But it is worth scorned spouses’ while to try to catch their
partner in flagrante, since the threat of pressing charges can help secure a
more favourable divorce settlement.

根據台北大學官曉薇教授的說法，曾經有躲過通姦罪的情侶聲稱他們只是蓋棉被純聊天，
雖然雙方當時都已脫光了。
但這值得憤怒的配偶雙方花時間與金錢公然抓對方偷情，因為藉此威嚇所提出訴訟是一個
很有力的離婚談判籌碼。

Despite all these flaws, Taiwanese seem to like the adultery law. A poll
conducted in 2017 by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found that 69%
of adults wanted to keep it on the books. An earlier government survey found
even stronger support for retaining the law. “In Taiwanese society, everyone
thinks a stable marriage and family is the foundation of social stability,”
Mr Tsai says.

蔡清祥表示，在台灣社會人人都認為一個穩定的婚姻與家庭是社會穩定的基礎。

Nonetheless, several lower courts have asked the constitutional court to
review the law. It heard oral arguments on the subject on March 31st, and
says it will announce a ruling at the end of May. The court upheld the law as
recently as 2002, but since then has issued a series of more liberal rulings.
It was the court, for example, which ordered parliament to legalise gay
marriage in 2017. Mr Tsai says the government is open-minded about the law’s
future. The judges, however, are likely to be more categorical. ■


This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the
headline "Philanderers hold their breath"


5.完整新聞連結 (或短網址):
https://tinyurl.com/yc2vmlnh

6.備註:
經濟學人真的很關心台灣，補2002做的合憲宣告是554號。
另外標題的courts我直接翻成憲法法庭了，2022開始實施的憲法訴訟法也適用憲法法庭
司法院通姦罪憲法法庭言詞辯論影音↓
http://cons.judicial.gov.tw/jcc/zh-tw/videoinformation/show/826

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