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Justices rule consription orders unfair

The Council of Grand Justices ruled yesterday that conscription orders applied in the Kinmen area -- a military frontline -- unfairly forced over 700 Kinmen males to serve two terms of military service.

Ruling on a petition by a Kinmen man born in 1975 who was required to serve in the army twice, the council declared the conscription orders by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Interior null and void, demanding measures be taken to right the previous administrative mistake.

Like many male residents on Kinmen, Lee Wei-chiang (李偉強) had been conscripted to serve on civilian-defense forces at the age of 16 when the Kinmen area was still under semi-wartime alert.

During that period the government issued a directive exempting those having served in "civilian-defense squads" from military service. The directive applied to ordinary male citizens in Taiwan who were at least 18 years of age.

However, following the ending of the alert period in 1992, the exemption directive was terminated. Lee was later required by authorities to serve another two years of military service.

In November of 1992, after more than three decades of military administration, Kinmen and Matsu reverted to civilian rule.

The changes did not affect Kinmen males who were over 18 or under 16, but those who were 16 and 17 years of age fell through the cracks and were required to serve a second military term. Some 700 individuals fell into that category.

Even though these men had served in the civilian-defense forces from the age of 16, they were required to serve in the military when they turned 18.

Believing the conscription orders unfair, Lee's father filed petitions with the authorities and was disappointed with their refusal to exempt his son from a second term of service. An administrative court also ruled against Lee in July 1999.

The council, in handing down its unanimous decision yesterday, reasoned that the conscription orders were in breach of the principle of equal rights under the law and demanded that measures be taken to help those men born between 1975 and 1976.

Taiwan currently has 380,000 servicemen, about 100,000 of whom are career soldiers.
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