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Four grand justices approved, four rejected

Legislators vote on President Chen Shui-bian's nominees for the Council of Grand Justices in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominees for president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan received the endorsement of a majority of lawmakers yesterday, but the four grand justice nominees affiliated with the pan-green camp were voted down.

Grand Justice Lai Ying-jaw (賴英照) will succeed Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生), whose retirement takes effect on Monday, as president of the Judicial Yuan, after receiving a 200-to-11 confirmation vote. Two lawmakers cast invalid votes.

Grand Justice Hsieh Tsai-chuan (謝在全) was approved as vice president by a vote of 145 to 45 with 10 invalid ballots, filling the position left vacant by Cheng Chung-mo (城仲模), who resigned last April over allegations of an extramarital affair.

Hsieh obtained less support than Lai did as many Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers were dissatisfied with his opinion on a constitutional interpretation that declared the National Communications Commission (NCC) unconstitutional.

The Council of Grand Justices in July declared that the NCC's makeup, reflecting the proportion of seats held in the legislature by each party, is unconstitutional.

"Caucus members were not required to vote for Hsieh [because of the NCC matter]. We merely told them to support the president's nominees," DPP legislative caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said.

The nominees needed an affirmative vote from more than half of the 217 lawmakers to be approved. The DPP and its pan-green ally the Taiwan Solidarity Union together hold just 96 legislative seats.

Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄), chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), a law professor at National Taiwan University, Liu Shing-i (劉幸義), a law professor at National Taipei University, and retired Supreme Court justice Yeh Sai-ying (葉賽鶯) failed to pass the threshold because of pan-blue opposition.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party (PFP) and Non-partisan Solidarity Union all rejected the four nominees, who have close associations with the pan-green camp.

The pan-blue camp, holding 119 seats, cast a total of only 46 votes for the eight grand justice nominees in a bid to reduce the chance of its lawmakers voting against the caucus decision to boycott the four nominees.

The four rejected nominees also did not win the full support of the pan-green camp, with Hsu, Yeh Jiung-rong, Liu Shing-i, and Yeh Sai-ying only garnering 93, 92, 94 and 94 votes respectively. The lost votes were from TSU legislators.

PFP legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) said that the four nominees were voted down on the grounds that they have "strong ideological beliefs" that made them "unqualified" to have the power of interpreting the Constitution.

As stipulated in Additional Article No. 5 of the Constitution, of the 15 grand justices nominated by the president in 2003, eight members, including the president and the vice president of the Judicial Yuan, received four-year terms. The remaining grand justices received eight-year terms.

The eight grand justice nominees were named late last month to succeed the eight grand justices whose terms expire on Sunday.

After the nomination list was sent to the legislature, the pan-blue camp said it would throw out at least half of the nominees to avoid a situation in which all 15 grand justices would be nominated by one president in 2011.

KMT Legislator Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said Additional Article No. 5 was designed to ensure that not all grand justices are nominated by one president.

"Voting down the four nominees leaves their nomination to the next president," he said.

Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), executive-general of an alliance composed of civil groups to monitor the confirmation process, said the pan-blue camp was putting party politics over legal expertise.

"The duty of the grand justices is not only to provide constitutional interpretations on political issues but also to safeguard human rights. It's a pity that the legislature voted down the four nominees who hold relatively progressive views on human rights," he said.

The four grand justice nominees who passed the confirmation vote were Lin Hsi-yao (林錫堯), chief prosecutor at the Supreme Court Prosecutors' Office, Chih Chi-ming (池啟明), a justice of the Supreme Court, Tsai Ching-you (蔡清遊), president of the Fuchien High Court Kinmen Branch and Lee Chen-shan (李震山), a law professor at National Chengchi University.

The Presidential Office issued a statement after the vote saying the president was grateful for the legislative approval of four nominees, but added that Chen was worried about the performance of the grand justices since four nominees had been rejected.
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