Taiwan leader apologizes over judge nomination uproar

Apr 1, 2011, 11:40 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Friday apologized for being thoughtless in nominating a judge criticized for acquitting a suspected child molester.

'I am really sorry and I should have been more prudent,' Ma said of his nomination of Shao Yen-ling, a female Supreme Court judge, for a seat on the Council of Grand Justices, the island's constitutional court.

Shao last year overruled a High Court decision which sentenced a man to seven years and two months in prison for sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl, citing a lack of evidence showing the contact was against the victim's will. The High Court later retried the case and acquitted the man.

The ruling triggered public outrage and large-scale protest.

It also prompted the government to revise the law so that an attack would still be punished even though the underage person fails to offer obvious resistance.

Ma said that he decided to name Shao while unaware that she was behind the controversial ruling.

Shao rejected the chance to serve on the Council of Grand Justices because of the furore.

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