Judge Chen Jiashen Retires Early Amid Plagiarism Scandal, Hands Down 12‑Year Drug Sentence

High Court former judge Chen Jiashen was ordered by Chief Justice Zhang Jueneng to take early retirement, six years before the normal retirement age, after multiple instances of judicial plagiarism were uncovered. The retirement takes effect tomorrow and his pension will be reduced proportionally to his shortened service period under the relevant statutes.

On the same day, Judge Chen presided over a drug‑trafficking case involving a 48‑year‑old Taiwanese worker who had carried two bottles of red wine containing a total of 890 g of cocaine from Malaysia to Hong Kong. Although sentencing guidelines suggested a term of 17½ years, Chen considered the case’s international element, the defendant’s early guilty plea and remorse, and imposed a term of 12 years and 4 months, adding one year for the cross‑border nature of the offence.