WARREN — A Trumbull County Common Pleas judge found himself in uncharted waters during a visit to Taiwan, where he spent two weeks learning about its judicial system.
Judge Sean J. O’Brien was chosen by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, a consulate for Taiwan citizens living in the Midwest, to participate in the trip.
Joined by other chosen representatives from Florida, California, Arizona and more who made the trip to learn about Taiwan’s economy, O’Brien was there to focus on the judicial system.
Delegates were chosen through an initiative put together by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to share ideas.
“I do want to say thank you to a diverse group of delegates that brought so much perspective from legal to business and government,” O’Brien said.
The Taiwan High Prosecutor’s Office in Taipei hosted O’Brien — offering him a glimpse of their judicial system and providing the opportunity for the exchange of information.
“One of the things we discussed was how we go about extraditions,” O’Brien said. “Their prosecutor’s office wanted an understanding of how to work better with our FBI or U.S. attorneys, see how we collect evidence, what our search warrant process was like, things of that nature.”
O’Brien said he was able to sit inside municipal court, observing the similarities and differences, during a preliminary hearing for a person facing drug charges.
“It had the same type of look and feel of Brookfield or (Trumbull County) Central District Court, some of it was different — but I think we’re more similar than we are not,” O’Brien said. “It kind of made me smile because we may speak different languages, but we have the same judicial mindset.”
One of the glaring ways O’Brien said our justice systems differ is that in Taiwan, municipal court hearings for lower level infractions are sometimes determined by a panel of judges.
“They’ll have a three-judge panel on most cases and then six person lay jurors that sit on the bench — like a jury would in common pleas and listen to the case. All nine then come to a conclusion on the verdict,” O’Brien said.
The process is one new to Taiwan, being introduced through legislation in the Citizen Judges Act of 2020 after years of advocacy from judicial reformers.
The lay jurors are seen by many citizens as a reform to improve human rights and transparency in the court.
The collaborative or mixed court system is a model adopted and implemented in several countries, including Germany, Sweden, Austria and Japan.
O’Brien, however, isn’t chomping at the bit to bring the idea stateside.
“In a way, we have that by letting 12 people determine guilt or innocence,” O’Brien said.
“But I prefer our system because the judge has seen all these cases before and understands the legal system better than any civilian.”
A stark contrast in how one makes the leap to judge was another lesson for O’Brien.
In Taiwan, he said, law school is not something needed to become a judge. Instead, O’Brien said the country employs different means to an end goal of sitting on the bench.
“After a certain amount of years of acting as an attorney you can take a test and train to become your choice of either a judge or prosecutor,” O’Brien said.
VISITING OLD FRIENDS
The former 32nd District Ohio senator (2016-2020) and state representative (2011-2016), a Democrat from Bazetta, made stops to the Tucheng district of Taipei visit friends at the Foxconn headquarters.
Foxconn — the world’s largest manufacturer of consumer electronics, best known, perhaps for making Apple’s iPhone — owns the former General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown, where the tech giant plans to assemble electric vehicles.
“I know a bunch of people working here, so it was kind of cool to drop in on old friends,” O’Brien said.
During his time as a senator, O’Brien said he developed relationships with the representatives from the manufacturing company that carry over to this day.
During his tenure, he also helped establish the Taiwanese Friendship Caucus to reaffirm and strengthen ties between the United States and Taiwan.
O’Brien recalled he spent much of his time in the Senate bringing economic opportunity to this area through Foxconn.
“The Taiwanese Foxconn seem committed to the community and investing in Lordstown,”O’Brien said.
“If Foxconn is bringing their supplies, which I believe they will, it’s going to add even more jobs to have battery plants and electric vehicle manufacturing continue to grow here.”
O’Brien said he believes these diplomacy trips are important, not just for judges, but for as many people as possible to understand the commonalities between the two countries.
“We share more common values and goals than what we realize,” O’Brien said. “As you see the world developing, we need to keep our friends close and learn their culture. Seeing how their love for democracy and love for both capitalism and innovation is similar to ours is vital.”
cmcbride@tribtoday.com
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