A case in New Taipei, Taiwan, in which a husband killed his wife and his sister-in-law in the street has ended in a life sentence, leaving the victims' family in tears and protesting, while the citizen judges who took part in the trial also expressed a sense of powerlessness about the system.

• A man surnamed Hsieh hacked his wife and sister-in-law to death in the street last year; the court found that the offence did not meet the threshold of "the most serious circumstances" and handed down two life sentences rather than the death penalty.
• The victims' parents broke down in tears in the courtroom, angrily denouncing the verdict as unjust and questioning what purpose the citizen judge system serves at all.
• One of the citizen judges who sat on the case complained that even if all six citizen judges argued for the death penalty, it cannot be imposed unless the three professional judges also agree unanimously, mocking the citizen judges as mere "mascots" and a "fig leaf".
• The New Taipei District Court said in a statement that the deliberation process must by law remain confidential, that no one may probe into or disclose it, and called on the media to exercise self-restraint and stop reporting in depth on the content of the deliberations.
• The court also said it would provide mental health resources to support citizen judges facing pressure from public opinion.

Outlook: The controversy is likely to prompt renewed scrutiny of the rule within the citizen judge system requiring a unanimous decision by the professional judges before the death penalty can be imposed.