In a stunning turn of events in a 23-month-long court battle, a judge has decided to suspend the hearing and ask for a constitutional interpretation on whether illegal restrictions have been placed on the public’s right to assembly and on freedom of speech.
Taipei District Court Judge Chen Ssu-fan (陳思帆), presiding over a case where a university professor was arrested for holding a sit-in without a permit, said on Thursday night that the controversial Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) would be passed on to the Council of Grand Justices to determine the constitutionality of several of its clauses.
The judge said in the meantime he did not have enough information to make a ruling in the case against National Taiwan University assistant professor Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁), a leader of the Wild Strawberries student movement in 2008.
On Nov. 6, 2008, the sociology professor led dozens of university students as they held a two-day sit-in at Liberty Square in Taipei to protest a police crackdown on the display of the Republic of China (ROC) national flag and the playing of Taiwanese songs during a visit by Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) earlier that week.
Along with a number of student leaders, Lee was forcibly evicted and arrested the next day after police said he did not hold a valid permit and accused him of refusing to disperse the crowd despite repeated warnings by officers. Prosecutors said Lee had not applied to hold the protest with Taipei police, in contravention of the act.
Restrictions placed on protesters by the Assembly and Parade Act are far-reaching and numerous.
Article 4 and Article 6 of the act state that protesters cannot speak in support of communist or pro-Taiwanese independence activities and that protests cannot take place near certain government buildings, airports, military installations and embassies.
The act also states that permits for protests must be applied for in writing with local police departments beforehand and that protests can be canceled or moved by the government because of adverse weather conditions or other “serious events” — without further elaboration.
On Thursday, Chen Ssu-fan said he was concerned that the articles in question could be in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which protects freedom of assembly and association. He added that the restrictions could also violate the principles of two international conventions on human rights protection that were promulgated last year.
Leaving the courtroom following the judge’s decision, Lee told reporters the move was a “major step forward in Taiwan’s democratic development.”
He added he was even happier with the judge’s stance than he would have been if acquitted.
“The judge has taken this case up from an individual issue to a constitutional issue ... this will have long-term positive implications for the protection of human rights,” the 39-year-old professor said.
“I honestly think the judge has a lot of guts and his decision shows long-term vision,” Lee said.
Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), an attorney and executive director at the Judicial Reform Foundation, which provided Lee with his legal team, also applauded the decision, saying he was optimistic the Grand Justices would find in favor of abolishing the act.
“Frankly, having the judge stop the case and actively ask for a constitutional interpretation was the most surprising thing that could have happened during this case,” he told the Taipei Times.
Civil organizations scrutinizing the case said they believe revisions to the act are long overdue and they agreed the decision would have long-term implications for Taiwan’s democracy.
“We have had concerns for a while now that the act is falling behind and can no longer protect the public’s constitutional rights and I think the judge’s decision reflects this,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Tsai Chi-hsun (蔡季勳) said.
The act, first passed in 1988 — a year after the end of martial law, has long been a cause of controversy for activists and politicians, who argue that it seeks to excessively regulate protesters and handicaps more spontaneous protests, compared with laws in the US and Europe.
The latest revisions, in 2002, relaxed some of the restrictions, but requests for an overhaul of the entire act have so far failed to reach a legislative consensus.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said they would once again request that the Executive Yuan begin efforts to abolish the act, calling it an important indicator of whether the country was “truly democratic” — saying that such efforts should supersede party politics.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) commended Chen Ssu-fan for his handling of the case, which she said was an “historical issue” that would play an important part in Taiwan’s judicial reform.
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
INTENSIFYING THREATS: Beijing’s tactics include massive attacks on the government service network, aircraft and naval vessel incursions and damaging undersea cables China is prepared to interfere in November’s nine-in-one local elections by launching massive attacks on the Taiwanese government’s service network (GSN), a report published by the National Security Bureau showed. The report was submitted to the Legislative Yuan ahead of the bureau’s scheduled briefing at the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The national security team has identified about 13,000 suspicious Internet accounts and 860,000 disputed messages, the bureau said of China’s cognitive warfare against Taiwan. The disputed messages focus on major foreign affairs, national defense and economic issues, which were produced using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed through Chinese
RSS