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Title: Organic Statute of Reform Schools CH
Abolished Date: 2023-05-03
Category: Ministry of Justice(法務部)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1
The Organic Statute of Reform Schools is defined pursuant to the provisions of Article 52, Paragraph 2 of the Juvenile Accident Act.
Article 2
Reform schools for juveniles are established to provide the reformatory education ruled by the justice system under the purpose of reforming juvenile delinquents’ behaviors and foster reformation of character through the teaching of life skills that may become sources of livelihood. Moreover, supplementary education programs are offered to cater to the actual requirements of the juveniles and provide them with opportunities to seek further education.
Article 3
Juveniles receiving reformatory education in reform schools shall be called as students. Male and female students shall be placed under segregate administration; however, for teaching convenience purposes, male and female students may attend integrated classes.
Article 4
The Ministry of Justice or the highest local administrative office commissioned by the Ministry of Justice sees to the establishment and operation of reform schools for juveniles; all operations are subject to the supervision and surveillance of the Ministry of Justice.
Chapter II Organization and Duties & Authorities
Article 5
A reform school for juveniles shall have a director possessing a position rank from Recommended Appointment Level 9 to Selected Appointment Level 10 or under contract hiring to manage the administration of reform school matters.
Article 6
The director of a reform school for juveniles shall possess the recommended appointment rank or recommended contract hiring qualification and shall have previous experience holding one of the following positions:
1. Chief probation officer of a juvenile court possessing excellent performance record;
2. Superintendent or director of a juvenile reformatory education facility possessing excellent performance record;
3. Principal of a secondary or higher education school for at least three years or principal of an elementary school for at least seven years possessing excellent performance record;
4. Administration staff of a justice, social or educational organization for at least five years possessing an educational background and actual work experience in juvenile discipline and training; or
5. Associate professor or professor of a junior college or higher educational facility specializing in the research of juvenile discipline and training.
Article 7
A reform school for juveniles shall employ a secretary possessing the recommended appointment rank to assist the director in attending to affairs of the school.
Article 8
A reform school for juveniles shall have four essential departments – the Educational Affairs Department, Discipline Department, Healthcare Department, and General Affair Department. A department head having a recommended appointment rank or recommended assignment qualification shall be retained for each department. The department head shall administer the respective duties of the department under the supervision of the school director.
Article 9
Matters subject to the administration of the Educational Affairs Department:
1. Registration, class assignment, and course curriculum of students and related matters;
2. Planning and formulation of teaching methodology and skill program and related matters;
3. Evaluation and grading of the academic performance and the skill program performance of students and related matters;
4. Screening of the reading materials issued to students and related matters;
5. Design and publishing of school journals and other publications and related matters;
6. Management of skill training facilities and the approval and allocation of prizes for students’ works and related matters;
7. Other educational affair related matters.
Article 10
Matters subject to the administration of the Discipline Department:
1. Formulation and establishment of plans for the disciplinary education enforcement and related matters;
2. Supervision and management of student life and related matters;
3. Supervision and evaluation of the thoughts and behaviors of students and related matters;
4. Collection and filing of student fingerprint and photograph records and related matters;
5. Investigation, gathering, study, and analysis of student cases and related matters;
6. Physical education and training matters of students and related matters;
7. Extracurricular activities and recreation of students and related matters;
8. Student discipline, the reward and punishment of student actions and related matters;
9. Communication and visitation interviews with the students’ families and communities and related matters;
10. Assignment and implementation of guarding duties and related matters;
11. Class acceleration and employment counseling for students bound for release from the reform school, maintenance of contacts with released students, and related matters.
Article 11
Matters subject to the administration of the Healthcare Department:
1. Implementation and review of the school health and hygiene programs, and related matters;
2. Physical examination and disease treatment of students, the prevention and treatment of communicable diseases, and related matters;
3. Mental health test, physiological examination, and mental acuity test of students and related matters;
4. Study and analysis of student cases, analysis and assessment of the state of mind of students, and related matters;
5. Guidance and rehabilitation of the mental health of students, and related matters;
6. Dispensing and preparation of medications, medical treatment, purchase and management of test equipment, and related matters;
7. Infirmary ward management related matters;
8. Registration and notification of student illnesses and mortality and related matters.
Article 12
Matters subject to the administration of the General Affairs Department:
1. Acceptance and distribution, preparation, and custody of documents and related matters;
2. Safekeeping of official seals and related matters;
3. Budget and cashier related matters;
4. Building construction, repair, and renovation and related matters;
5. Material procurement, distribution, and custody and related matters;
6. Procurement and custody of skill training related materials, tools, and equipment and related matters;
7. Student admission and release registration and related matters;
8. Treatment and processing of deceased students and their properties and related matters;
9. Other matters not attended by other departments.
Article 13
A reform school for juveniles having the student population under one hundred students shall have four guidance counselors and four discipline officers under contract hiring; a reform school having the student population exceeding one hundred students shall have an additional appointed guidance counselor and appointed discipline officer for each class section organized; however, maximum number of counselor and department staff shall be sixteen only.
Every class shall be composed of thirty students as a rule; a class shall likewise be organized in the event of female students or other special conditions causing a particular class population to fall under thirty.
Article 14
A reform school for juveniles shall have the following employees to attend to departmental operations: around four to eight technicians possessing the recommended assignment or contract hiring qualification; two to eight technical personnel possessing the designated appointment rank or designation qualification; four to eight investigators and one or two psychological test and mental acuity test personnel possessing the recommended assignment or contract hiring qualification; two to five physicians possessing the contract hiring qualification, and one of them concurrently holds the position of the Healthcare Department head; one pharmacist possessing the contract hiring qualification; two to five nurses possessing the designated appointment rank or designation qualification; and six to twelve staff members possessing the designated appointment rank or designation qualification.
Article 15
Individuals for appointment to the positions of secretary, Educational Affairs Department head, Discipline Department head, counselor, discipline officer and investigator of reform schools for juveniles should have held at least one of the following positions previously and the essential qualifications required for each respective position:
1. Probation officer of a juvenile court possessing excellent performance record;
2. Counselor cum faculty member or social worker of a reform school for juveniles possessing excellent performance record;
3. Faculty member of a secondary or higher education school or faculty member of an elementary school for at least five years possessing a background in discipline affairs;
4. Judicial or social administration staff possessing an educational background and actual work experience in juvenile discipline and training.
Article 16
A reform school for juveniles shall employ around sixteen to thirty-six employees attending to guarding and record or transcript processing and other related matters.
Article 17
A reform school for juveniles may employ part-time teachers for classes according to the existing circumstances.
Article 18
A reform school for juveniles shall be equipped with an accounting & statistics office complete with a director possessing the recommended appointment rank, and two to four assistants possessing the designated appointment rank, to attend to the accounting and statistics matters of the school as dictated by law.
Article 19
A reform school for juveniles shall be equipped with a personnel office complete with a director possessing the recommended appointment rank and one to three personnel assistants possessing the designated appointment rank to attend to the personnel administration matters of the school as dictated by law.
Article 20
A reform school for juveniles shall be equipped with a school affairs committee consisting of the school director, secretary, department heads, and the respective officers of the school. The school director shall serve as the committee chairperson.
Significant matters involving student administration, petitions for the cancellation or suspension of reformatory education enforcement, and other school administration affairs shall require the resolution of the school affairs committee; however, under urgent circumstances where immediate decision shall be imperative, the decision of the school director shall be implemented, and thereafter, matter shall be reported to the information of the school affairs committee.
Article 21
A reform school for juveniles may organize the following steering committees for the implementation of skill training, healthcare, psychological health promotion, and further education and career guidance counseling:
1. skill training steering committee,
2. healthcare steering committee,
3. psychological health steering committee, and
4. further education and career steering committee
Seats of the foregoing committees are positions not subject to remuneration; concerned members of the society or respective field experts may be invited and appointed by the school director to hold seats in the committees.
Chapter III Admission and Discharge
Article 22
Upon admission of students into a reform school for juveniles, the verdict and court order of the juvenile court should be carefully perused and identity of student should be properly verified.
Where a juvenile court orders the implementation of reformatory education, the pertinent information of the juvenile and his/her family and the incident background should be attached to the court order.
Article 23
A student information record containing the student’s fingerprints and photographs shall be prepared upon the admission of a student into a reform school.
Article 24
A health examination should be conducted upon the admission of a student into a reform school. Where a student shall manifest any of the following symptoms, a temporary student admission deferment order shall be issued; supporting reasons shall be stated in the order. Following an understanding of circumstances the juvenile court may rule the transfer of the juvenile to the custody of a hospital, the juvenile’s parents or guardian, or to a more suitable facility:
1. Loss of mental capacity;
2. Currently afflicted with a disease and enforcement of sentence might result in physical or mental disability or death;
3. Contraction of an acute communicable disease;
4. Pregnant for more than five month or longer on the way or recent child delivery less than two months.
Necessary steps should be taken upon the diagnosis of the condition in the foregoing Subparagraph 3.
Article 25
A physical inspection and inspection of student’s clothes and objects should be conducted upon the admission of a student into a reform school. For female students, inspection shall be conducted by a female discipline officer or investigator.
Article 26
Upon the admission of students into a reform school, students should be oriented with the school rules and regulations; moreover, students’ parents or guardians should be informed of the names of the respective department heads or officers and the visitation and communication regulations of the school.
Article 27
Where a student is due for release from the school, all pertaining release papers of the student should be processed and completed before noon of the day following the date prescribed in the official release approval document or expiration of the student’s term.
Article 28
Matters pertaining to the protection of students after their release should be investigated soon after their admission into the school; thereafter a review of the situation should be conducted prior to their release. The further education and career counseling of students after release should be planned in advance to enable proper resolution.
Prior to the official release of a student, the parents or guardian of the student or the related protective facility or organization should be notified of the date of the student’s release.
Article 29
Where enforcement of the reformatory education of a student is suspended and student is turned over to probation after release, due notification should be forwarded to the jurisdictional juvenile court complete with the classification, academic, skill training, and behavior & conduct records of the student.
Article 30
Where a student dies in a reform school, a report shall be submitted to the competent prosecutor and due notice shall be forwarded to the student’s parents, guardian, or next of kin to claim the student’s body. Where no parent or kin shall appear to claim the student’s body within twenty-four hours following due notice, the authorities shall arrange for the student’s burial.
A case report of the foregoing incident shall be compiled and submitted to the competent authorities.
Article 31
The parent, guardian, or other next of kin of a deceased student should be duly notified of any cash, property, and other prize money of the deceased student for claiming; where said properties shall remain unclaimed after a year has elapsed, properties shall be turned over to the national treasury.
Article 32
Where students have escaped from the school, matter should be reported to the competent prosecutor for arrest; moreover, a report shall be submitted to the information of the respective authorities concerned and the juvenile court.
Article 33
Where a student who has escaped from the school has left behind cash and property and the escaped student remains at large after a year or is found deceased, the parent, guardian, or other next of kin of the escaped or deceased student should be duly notified of such cash and property for claiming. Where notice could not be delivered, a public notice shall be posted; thereafter, if no claim has been made six months after the delivery of notice or posting of public notice, said cash and property shall be turned over to the national treasury.
Chapter IV Individual Case Analysis
Article 34
The respective joint organizing student admission teams of a reform school for juveniles shall conduct an investigative analysis of information received from the juvenile court pertaining to students newly admitted into the facility and submit a report to the school affairs committee for decision on the student’s class assignment, level rating, and teaching method.
The aforementioned student case analysis shall be conducted pursuant to psychological, educational, and medical judgment.
Article 35
The maximum period of the investigative analysis stated in the preceding article shall be one month; all information obtained should be recorded in details on data cards and separately filed for record purposes.
Article 36
A reform school for juveniles should visit the families and related social organizations or establishments of the students from time to time to investigate and gather related information of the students for case analysis and study; study reports shall serve as reference for the personal education programs of the students.
Article 37
In the period of the investigative analysis, students shall be given an opportunity to manifest their personality; the administration procedures of student living conditions should prevent escape or suicide attempts, violent behaviors, or other disciplinary violations of students.
Chapter V Education and Administration
Article 38
The administration of student living conditions should follow that of a school administration with the infusion of boy scout training and military management strategies. Home life education shall be included in the education program of students below the age of fourteen.
Article 39
In order to foster students’ resolve for reform and their adaptation to community life, students shall be divided into classes and administered using the grading and advancement system.
Regulations governing the aforementioned grading and advancement system shall be subject to the discretion of the Ministry of Justice.
Article 40
The primary priority of a reform school for juveniles shall be moral behavior and conduct education; knowledge and skill education shall serve as secondary priority.
1. The moral behavior and conduct education program shall include civic training, boy scout training, military training, physical education, health and recreation activities, and labor services.
2. Students who are dropouts of secondary or higher education schools prior to their admission or who have completed the basic education program and are eligible for promotion shall be provided with the supplementary education in the reform school; students who have not completed the basic education program shall continue studies in the reform school; classes shall be taught according to the standard course curriculum of the competent education authorities.
3. Skill training of students shall be designated according to the sex, educational attainment, interests, stamina, and inclination of the students.
The pertaining enforcement rules of the preceding paragraph shall be conjointly defined by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education.
Article 41
A reform school for juveniles shall provide its students with clothing, nourishment, essential daily living items, and textbooks and notebooks; the full or partial educational and living expenses of students designated under the responsibility of the juvenile or the guardian or support provider of the juvenile by the juvenile court according to Article 60 of the Juvenile Accident Act shall be assessed at market price; payment of which shall be collected from the responsible party.
Personal books of students shall be inspected before turnover to the perusal of students.
Article 42
Food, beverage, and other dietary essentials and supplements of students shall be provided without discrimination of class or educational classification.
Article 43
Dormitory quarters of students shall be designated after proper evaluation of student conditions; however, students committing serious violation of the organization and living disciplinary rules shall be subject to solitary quarter isolation upon the approval of the school director.
The maximum solitary quarter isolation period shall be seven days.
Article 44
Students are entitled to family and friend visitation and correspondence rights; however, the director is entitled to deny such rights for grounds of obstruction to the implementation of reformatory education or welfare of the students.
The visitation stated in the preceding paragraph shall be limited to two visits per week and a maximum duration of thirty minutes per visit; however, visitation time or frequency may be extended or increased under the special permission of the director.
All student correspondences are subject to the inspection of the head of Discipline Department and the discovery of any condition or circumstance stated in the provisos of Paragraph 1 shall entitle the department head to stop delivery or order the deletion of prohibited articles before delivery.
Student visitation regulations are subject to the discretion of the Ministry of Justice.
Article 45
Where students contract a communicable disease or other serious diseases in reform schools and for which no proper medical treatment is available within the school premises, upon evaluation of circumstances, an application for hospital transfer and treatment may be filed with the competent authorities or for the release of student on bail for medical treatment.
Where the director of a reform school shall find urgent treatment necessary, emergency procedures may be first executed and the pertaining report shall be submitted to the competent authorities for information.
Students transferred to hospitals for confined treatment shall be regarded as continuing their reformatory education; students on medical treatment on bail shall be regarded as temporarily released, and treatment period shall not be counted as part of their reformatory education period.
Where the first paragraph procedure is implemented, proper notice shall be forwarded to the parent, guardian, or next of kin of students.
Article 46
Students having contracted a disease as defined in the preceding articles and requesting for medical treatment on personal expense shall be granted for treatment under the joint monitoring of the school and hospital authorities.
Chapter VI Reward and Punishment
Article 47
A student achieving any of the following accomplishments shall be rewarded or commend:
1. Good behavior that may serve as a fine example for other students to emulate;
2. Excellent academic performance or skill performance;
3. Excellent performance in physical education;
4. Accomplishment of an extraordinary honorable contribution.
Article 48
Rewards and incentives to be granted for accomplishments defined in the preceding article are as shown below:
1. Open commendation;
2. Awarding of an award certificate or a medal;
3. Awarding of prize money, books, and other award prizes.
Article 49
One or more of the following disciplinary actions shall be imposed to students violating disciplinary rules of the reform school:
1. Reprimand;
2. Suspension of correspondence rights for a maximum of seven days per instance;
3. Suspension of one to three visitation rights; and/or
4. Labor service for one to three days, and a maximum duration of two hours per day.
Article 50
Whenever a commendation is awarded to or disciplinary action is imposed on a student, due notification shall be forwarded to the student’s parents, guardian, or next of kin.
Chapter VII Addenda
Article 51
Enforcement Rules of the Organic Statute of Reform Schools shall be subject to the discretion of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education.
Article 52
Organic Statute of Reform Schools shall take effect upon an Executive Yuan order to its effect.