The Judicial Yuan said yesterday that the loser of the lawsuit calling for an election recount would have to pay the legal cost of the case, an amount expected to be in the tens of millions of NT dollars.
"According to the Code of Civil Procedure (
"The Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法) states that a suit concerning arguments over the election shall also follow the Code of Civil Procedure. As a result, whoever loses the dispute this time shall pay the bill," Yang said.
Yang was responding to a question from People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (
Lee had asked whether it was possible for the government to pay the costs of the pan-blue camp's suits seeking to suspend President Chen Shui-bian (
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-PFP alliance said the Taiwan High Court should pay the cost of the suit because the suit concerns public benefits.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
On Tuesday, Taiwan High Court spokesman Wen Yau-yuan (
Yang said that to recount all the ballots, at least 1,100 judges and 1,100 court clerks would be needed to oversee the process. In addition, the Central Election Commission would have to assign at least 25,000 employees to assist in the recount. It would only take one day to complete the recount.
The cost of the recount, estimated to be at least NT$20 million, would be borne by the losing party in the case, according to a Taiwan High Court judge who wished to remain anonymous.
The losing party in the case would also have to cover the cost of court hearings.
Under the recount procedure, judges of the Taiwan High Court's No. 10 election court plan to meet whenever there is a disputed ballot and determine its validity.
Wen said yesterday that judges will begin hearing the suit to suspend Chen and Lu's victory tomorrow afternoon.
Meanwhile, the pan-blue camp said on Tuesday that it planned to refile its second suit, which is to ask the court to call the election a fraud, by the end of yesterday.
When approached by reporters yesterday afternoon, KMT spokesman Justin Chou (
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the