Big question mark still hangs over shooting statute

"After the pan-blue camp makes a mess of the investigation, the prosecutors will have to clean it up. That is why we are urging prosecutors to keep away from the committee."

Chen Jui-jen, spokesman for the Prosecutors' Reform Association

Although the Legislative Yuan passed the pan-blue camp's version of the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例) on Tuesday, a big question mark remains about whether the committee can really come into being after strong objections from different quarters.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus has also said that it would apply for a constitutional interpretation on the statute.

The statute empowers the committee to investigate criminal cases that stem from the March 19 shooting.

Its are appointed through recommendations from political parties or legislative caucuses.

Many have said that they are worried that the committee would be too powerful and that the statute is unconstitutional.

The Ministry of Justice on Tuesday issued a statement condemning the statute as "unconstitutional" and "monstrous," and several civic groups have voiced similar opinions in the past two days.

The Prosecutors' Reform Association has urged prosecutors to refrain from participating in the committee, and said that those who wish to assist the committee with the investigation had better resign from their jobs first so that prosecutors do not have to endorse the committee's investigation.

Association Chen Jui-jen (陳瑞仁), who is also a public prosecutor, said that when the pan-blue camp decided it wanted the committee to investigate criminal cases stemming from the shooting, the association suggested an independent counsel system.

Chen that the association suggested the committee should be given powers equal to, but not exceeding, those of a public prosecutor.

"But the statute that was passed stipulates that the committee's investigation work would not be restricted by other laws. This is simply unconstitutional. Prosecutors should not serve in an unconstitutional agency, and that's why we are asking prosecutors to keep away or resign before joining," Chen said.

"Further, if the committee is going to be a judicial agency, its members cannot be hired under recommendations from the political parties," he said.

Chen that the association had originally told the pan-blue camp that if the pan-blues wanted to take over the investigation, then the committee had to be responsible for everything, from investigation to appeals.

"But the statute now stipulates that the responsibility to press charges would fall on a prosecutor transferred from another agency, which means that after the pan-blue camp makes a mess of the investigation, the prosecutors will have to clean it up. That is why we are urging prosecutors to keep away from the committee. We do not endorse the committee's actions," Chen said.

Tsai Tsung-chen (蔡宗珍), an associate professor of law at National Taiwan University specializing in constitutional law, also condemned the statute as unconstitutional.

She warned that if the statute were allowed to exist in its present form, and if the committee were to operate accordingly, it could result in unthinkable consequences for the nation's legal system and politics.

"The statute has seriously damaged the constitutional principle of the separation of powers," Tsai said.

She said that the statute allowed the Legislative Yuan to meddle with the powers of the Control Yuan as well as the judiciary, as well as exercising powers that exceed those of the Legislative Yuan.

Tsai that although the Constitution did not forbid the Legislative Yuan making a law for a specified incident, it was still damaging to the legal system to be making a law specifically for the shooting.

"If the statute comes into practice, then in the future political parties may all try to solve their specific political disputes by making laws for specific incidents," Tsai said.

"It is obligatory for the Council of Grand Justices to maintain constitutional order by declaring the statute unconstitutional," Tsai said when asked about what the Council of Grand Justices should do with a constitutional interpretation on the statute.