Leaders of the KMT and DPP caucuses in the National Assembly yesterday vowed to pass additional constitutional amendments that would remove the legal right of the Council of Grand Justices to receive lifetime stipends.
Although their announcement appears to have been based on a misinterpretation of the law, this has not stopped Assembly delegates from acting on the issue.
A total of four constitutional amendments -- including those meant to marginalize the National Assembly, and another abolishing the Council of Grand Justices -- were passed in a committee review session yesterday, and will certainly move as a result into the second-reading stage, expected on April 24.
One Assembly leader claimed the Council had previously made self-serving interpretations of the law.
"It has been proved that the Council interpreted the Constitution so that they could continue to receive life stipends after their terms expire," said Alex Tsai (
The article concerns the security of life tenure and salary of judges.
Tsai said that Grand Justices, whose tenure is based on a term system, have -- according to their own Interpretation No. 396, in 1996 -- likened themselves to judges.
DPP caucus leader Liu I-teh (劉一德) also vowed to fight this "self-fattening" of the Grand Justices.
"Some think revenge could be had through the abolishment of the Council. But abolishment at the time would only enable them instead to continue to get paid until they die," Liu said.
But in fact, Reinterpretation No. 396 concerns a separate category of public employees, and actually has nothing to do with the Council of Grand Justices.
Salary guarantees for Grand Justices is, instead, written into the Organization Law of the Judicial Yuan.
A 1992 amendment of Article 5 of that law stipulates that Grand Justices whose terms expire -- and are not renewed -- shall be regarded as judicial officials who have ceased to handle cases. This means that despite being retired from the Council, the law stipulates they receive lifetime stipend guarantees.
Instead of being a "self-fattening" reinterpretation by the Grand Justices, therefore, the fault -- if any -- lies with the Legislative Yuan.
In a strange twist of irony, the bill was proposed in the legislature in 1992 by President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
At the time, said one legal scholar, the spirit of the legislation had to do with securing the independence of the Council from political interference, not about improper interests.
"The article emphasizes that the Grand Justices' status and functions, while exercising their powers independently, should not be distinguished from those of court judges," said Hsu Chih-hsiung (
The National Assembly's gestures aimed at the Council were seen as revenge over the latter's reinterpretation of the Constitution, when they ruled that amendments extending the Assembly's own term were improper.
A total of seven amendments began their first readings in the Assembly session, with four amendments passing committee review yesterday.
One amendment marginalizing the Assembly -- a move supported by all major parties -- passed in a landslide vote, with 244 deputies out of 262 present casting an affirmative vote.
If passed, the Assembly's powers would be reduced to voting on the impeachment of a president or vice president, on constitutional amendments, and on proposals to redraw national boundaries when these are passed by the Legislative Yuan.
The Assembly would become a non-standing body, meeting for no more than one month on each occasion and being disbanded as soon as the requested measures are completed.
On each occasion, 300 delegates would be appointed by political parties on a proportional representation basis.
Amendments passed in yesterday's meeting must pass second and third readings in order to become part of the Constitution.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)