The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday filed an application with the Judicial Yuan for a constitutional interpretation on the government's controversial policy of collecting fingerprints for the new national identification cards. Collection of fingerprints for the new cards is slated to begin on July 1.
The Council of Grand Justices could issue a temporary injunction against the law regulating the new policy.
According to Article 8 of the Household Registration Law (戶籍法), as of July 1, all citizens over the age of 14 must submit a full set of fingerprints when applying for an ID card. The new obligation has been marred by controversy since it was proposed. The DPP argues that the law violates privacy rights, and that the Council of Grand Justices should issue a temporary injunction on the law and rule it is inapplicable.
DPP caucus whip Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) yesterday said that many people have expressed doubt about the fingerprint regulations because they think fingerprints and would not be helpful in catching criminals, as the Ministry of Interior has claimed.
"Given that July 1 is coming soon, we hope the Council of Grand Justices will consider our application for a constitutional interpretation [on the law] as an extra-urgent case before the provision comes into effect," Chen said.
Thus far the DPP has filed three applications for a constitutional interpretation on a host of laws, including Article 8 of the Household Registration Law, the Statute Governing the Operation of the National Assembly (國大職權行使法) and the pan-blue camp's habitual boycotts of bills in the legislature, including the arms procurement bill.
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