The search of KMT Legislator Liao Hwu-peng's (
Prosecutors say Liao sold phony shares in Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (
But lawmakers across party lines convened yesterday morning to criticize the judicial branch's unprecedented move. They said that the Legislative Yuan is off-limits to the judicial branch, and any search of premises under the legislature's control must be first approved by legislative officials.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"In due respect to the legisla-ture's dignity, any actions the judicial powers intend to carry out within the confines of the legislature should have the speaker's permission [first]," Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), speaker of the Legislative Yuan, said after a two-hour meeting of party caucus leaders yesterday.
Wang also said that the "confines of the legislature" includes "the legislative chamber, conference rooms, office complexes, lawmakers' research rooms, their residential complexes and other related subsidiary areas."
Though the legislature supports the executive branch's efforts to crack down on crime, Wang said, the search of Liao's quarters was carried out without Wang's permission. Therefore, he said, the action was unacceptable.
The legislative speaker said the executive and judicial branches would be notified of the consensus reached by lawmakers, Wang said.
But not everyone agreed with Wang, with some inside the Legislative Yuan saying that the speaker's statements were an attempt to put lawmakers out of the reach of the law.
"These announcements are simply excuses lawmakers use to evade judicial investigation," said a legislator's senior assistant, who declined to be identified.
DPP Legislator Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾), a former prosecutor as well as a lawyer, said that the consensus reached among lawmakers carried little legal weight.
"We simply expressed our hope that judicial investigation within the confines of the legislature should have the speaker's permission first. But no existing law has stated that. So it remains a gray area," Perng said.
"It's my personal view that advanced notification of the speaker before a search is sufficient. The ultimate solution requires legislation in the future."
While Germany's basic law states that any search of the parliament carried out by judicial powers requires the permission of the parliament's speaker, the ROC's Constitution does not include such an article, Perng said.
Legislators in Taiwan are protected under an umbrella of immunity by the ROC Constitution. While the legislature is in session, they are legally protected from any arrest or detention unless the Legislative Yuan approves disciplinary action.
But elected officials in Taiwan have often been criticized for using such immunity to avoid taking responsibility for their actions -- and it is widely known that some lawmakers are also lawbreakers.
Liao, a six-term legislator from Yunlin County, is known to some by the nickname "red envelop Peng" (紅包本) as a result of several accusations that he has been involved in shady financial deals.
Although the investigation into Liao's stock dealings is seen by some as the beginning of a larger crackdown on corrupt lawmakers, Lo Fu-chu (
"I doubt whether such a move could produce any intimidating effect," Lo said. "This blatant search at the legislature can only trigger a constitutional crisis."
For example, he said, a move against the legislature could prompt it to cut the purse strings to other agencies during the next legislative session.
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