Legal experts yesterday said that the Constitution bars former grand justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) from heading the Judicial Yuan, following reports that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was considering nominating him for the position.
National Taiwan University professor of law Chen Chih-lung (陳志龍) said that Hsu served as a grand justice from 2003 to 2011 — a mandated eight-year term — and an amendment to the Constitution prohibits an additional term.
In the Additional Articles of the Constitution, Article 5 says: “Each grand justice of the Judicial Yuan shall serve a term of eight years, independent of the order of appointment to office, and shall not serve consecutive terms. The grand justices serving as president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan shall not enjoy the guarantee of an eight-year term.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“That article was part of an amendment to prevent grand justices from bowing to the wishes of political figures when making constitutional interpretations,” Chen said. “Hsu’s appointment to serve as a grand justice again is unconstitutional and it would be an international joke.”
The amendment says that the Judicial Yuan has 15 grand justices, while the president and vice president of the body are to be selected from among them, being “nominated and, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan, appointed by the president of the Republic” of China.
Presidential Office officials said they have consulted legal experts regarding the issue.
The appointment would be legal and there would be no breach of the Constitution in nominating Hsu, the officials said.
Hsu would be “reappointed,” not “serving consecutive terms,” which are two different concepts, they said.
Hsu was not continuing as a grand justice to serve for another term, because he retired from the post, the officials said. Academics and experts on constitutional law were consulted and they concurred that the move would not be a breach of Article 5, therefore the government will go ahead with Hsu’s nomination.
Tsai has faced a number of obstacles filling the Judicial Yuan’s presidency and No. 2 post, with her first picks, Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission Chief Commissioner Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) and Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chin-fang (林錦芳) withdrawing over past controversies.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao