In an unprecedented move, the Council of Grand Justices yesterday announced that it would broadcast live a debate next month on the issue of same-sex marriage from the perspective of a constitutional interpretation.
Legal professionals and four academics are to participate in the debate, which is scheduled for 9:30am on March 24, it said.
The debate will address two requests for a constitutional interpretation on the issue of same-sex marriage, the council said, adding that the cases were filed by the Taipei City Government and gay rights advocate Chi Chia-wei (祁家威).
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Chi is widely known as one of the nation’s pioneers in the fight for marriage equality, having first sought recognition of his union with his partner 16 years ago through a constitutional review of the nation’s marriage laws, in which he was defeated.
Three years ago, Chi initiated a second attempt, which also met with failure, despite having the support of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights and more than a dozen lawyers. That case was defeated in the Supreme Court in August 2015.
The March 24 debate would be Chi’s third request for a constitutional review of the nation’s marriage laws.
The other constitutional interpretation requested was filed by the Taipei City Government’s Bureau of Civil Affairs, which has been receiving an increasing number of same-sex marriage registration requests since Chi’s second appeal.
Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association research associate Lu Hsin-chieh (呂欣潔) and her partner, in addition to two other same-sex couples, filed an administrative lawsuit against the bureau after their marriage applications were rejected.
The bureau in 2015 filed for a constitutional interpretation in response.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS