It remains susceptible to corruption and political influence from the KMT, although increasingly judges are being drawn from outside the ruling party. There were a number of indictments of judges during 1998 for accepting bribes in exchange for favorable judgments. The Anti-Hoodlum Law allows police to detain alleged hoodlums on the basis of testimony by unidentified informants. In 1998, a new organization of prosecutors was established to promote ongoing political reform, including higher professional standards. Police continue to abuse suspects, conduct personal identity and vehicle checks with broad discretion, and obtain evidence illegally with few ramifications.
Prisons are overcrowded, and conditions are harsh in detention camps for illegal immigrants.
A new law in May 1998 bans companies connected with political parties from bidding for public contracts and designates life imprisonment for bid-riggers. This law was expected to help reduce corruption and reform business contract procedures. In recent years, Taiwan has considerably relaxed travel restrictions on its citizens to the Chinese mainland, although many limits on the entry of mainland Chinese remain in force, ostensibly for security reasons. In 1999, the government launched an investigation into the background of more than 100,000 immigrants and visitors from mainland China after intelligence agencies said that some of these people were involved in espionage and other illegal activities. Women face discrimination in employment, and rape and domestic violence remain serious problems.