The Academy for the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice (AJMJ) has been continuously organizing international exchange activities to broaden the global perspectives of judicial trainees. This time, the Academy invited Professor Dr. Mark A. Zöller from the Faculty of Law at Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (LMU) to deliver a special lecture, with Prosecutor AnChen Chang from the Supreme Prosecutors Office serving as the discussant.

Professor Zöller is currently teaching at the Faculty of Law at LMU. Prior to this, he taught at the Faculty of Law at Trier University and, in 2019, assisted in establishing a cooperation agreement between the Academy and Trier University, thereby laying a solid foundation for bilateral academic exchanges.

The topic of Professor Zöller’s lecture was "The Challenges for Criminal Law in Dealing with Delegitimization of the State." He began by introducing the annual report of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV) and explored the various forms of disparagement and undermining of Germany’s democratic constitutional system. He also discussed how public authorities can strike a delicate balance between protecting freedom of speech and safeguarding national security. Prosecutor Chang, the discussant, used the tension between state actions and constitutional fundamental rights as an entry point. In addition to providing background information on the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and related legal frameworks, she raised questions about how the exercise of public power by such institutions should be supervised. She also presented a real-life example of Taiwan's constitutional review of a political party for discussion.

After the lecture, Professor Zöller answered trainees' questions in detail regarding the recognition of state and government legitimacy. President Hsun-Lung Wu also shared insights on the boundaries of freedom of speech, referring to Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 644 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brandenburg v. Ohio ruling during the Q&A session, offering the trainees a broader range of perspectives. After the event, President Wu invited Professor Zöller and Prosecutor Chang to lunch at the Academy, where they exchanged views on recent developments in Germany’s political and economic situation—particularly in light of the Russia-Ukraine war, Germany’s stance on Israel's military actions, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and broader geopolitical implications—as well as on how distrust of dictatorial regimes influences academic interactions on the international stage.