According to the legal department, there are a total of 35,446 criminals who got released (including inmates who served their full sentence and release of parole) and 53,493 criminals who are in prison in 2020. The highest category of convicted inmates are crime of public danger (total of 50,438 people), drug hazard prevention and control regulations (total of 33,031 people), and theft (total of 21,812 people). The numbers of convicted criminals mostly consist of teenagers who are 30 to 40 years old; most of the prisoners are unemployed or holding a part-time job, unable to provide for themselves.

Even though Taiwan has prison counseling and job education, the recidivism rate of ex-cons was around 70%; for example, new prisoners in 2015 consist of 77.5% people of previous convictions, with drug related cases making up most of the numbers. The reason is not only drug addiction, but also their daily lives. Many drug addicts receive “gifts” from their drug dealer when they are released from prison, which makes it harder for drug control. The high recidivism rate is also caused by discriminations from the public: ex-cons have an extremely low employment rate, even those who do find a job were doing labor work or part-time jobs. On top of that, most detoxification centers were at one’s own expense. Therefore many drug addicts were forced to do detoxification on their own, which usually failed.

According to the law encyclopedia, the Good Citizen Certificate, which has different names depending on your location, refers to the official document which proves the citizen does not have a criminal record. In Taiwan, it is called the “Police Criminal Record Certificate”. Just like its name, citizens can apply for it from the police. When you’re studying abroad, immigrating, or job hunting, citizens are often asked to show their certificate, especially jobs such as security (According to the security industry law, if the officer committed crimes related to the mafia, drugs, guns, knifes, weapons, children, money laundering, properties, etc., they are forbidden from taking the job), educators (No sex-related crimes or child abuse), and transportation driver (no prior records related to public safety). On top of that, the Legal Departments and Personnel Departments often investigate the backgrounds of staff applying, further limiting the opportunities of ex-cons, forcing them to only engage in labor work or part-time jobs.