The Council of Grand Justices expects to hand down its ruling on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant issue before the Lunar New Year, a Judicial Yuan official said yesterday.
Following a hearing on Dec. 21, in which representatives from the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan were required to present arguments, the council has decided it is not necessary to hold further debate and has planned to rule on the controversial case within a month.
Yang Jen-shau (楊仁壽), secretary-general of the Judicial Yuan, said yesterday the council did not need to hear further debate on the issue as the representatives of both sides had provided sufficient information during the Thursday hearing.
Yang said the council has made the nuclear plant case top priority and has planned to issue its ruling by Chinese New Year.
Normally, the council hands down rulings at biweekly meetings joined by all members. Such meetings over the Chinese New Year period are scheduled for Jan. 5 and Jan. 19.
During the Thursday hearing, the council requested the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan to hand in more supplementary documentation within 10 days. As a result, it is generally expected Jan. 19 is a more likely date for the council's ruling to be issued.
The Executive Yuan announced in early November that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project in Taipei County, already one-third complete, should be scrapped in favor of alternative power sources.
The announcement sparked strong resentment among opposition legislators who argued that the Cabinet's decision was unconstitutional as the legislature had passed the budget to build the power plant in 1994.
In defense, the Executive Yuan has argued that a budget bill is different from legislation and it has administrative authority to choose whether to implement a budget while it is obligated to implement any legislation passed by the legislature.
In a bid to quell the furor, the Cabinet in November requested the Council of Grand Justices to interpret the legality of its action.
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