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Abuse law given more bite
BILLS APPROVED:
Also passed was an amendment that lowers the minimum retirement age in the military from 40 to 36, and also an update to the fertility treatment law
By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007, Page 2
The legislature demonstrated rare efficiency yesterday and cleared a number of amendments on the legislative floor.
Among them was an amendment to Family Violence Prevention and Service Act (家庭暴力防治法), which was aimed at encouraging domestic violence victims to seek professional assistance and cleared away obstacles that lead to them having to endure the suffering.
The amendment now makes the law applicable to gay and lesbian couples.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said the inclusion of homosexual relationships had been done to meet the needs of today's society and were of considerable significance.
The main concern that stops battered women from asking for help is what will happen to their children, so how to take care of children involved in domestic violence constitutes an important part of the amendment, People First Party Legislator Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) said.
In accordance with the amendment, the courts, when requested by a victimof abuse, are now entitled to demand that abusers hand over temporary custody of their children.
Also, protection orders issued by foreign courts will become effective in this country once the documents have been recognized by Taiwan's courts.
The legislature also enacted the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (人工生殖法), which is applicable to infertile couples.
According to the act, people who donate their sperm or ovum are not permitted to receive any payment.
The act requires that any assisted fertility treatment must first receive the approval of both of the couple involved and that hospitals must destroy any sperm or ovum if the couple subsequently get divorced or if one of the couple dies.
The legislature also enacted the Organic Law of the Intellectual Property Court (智慧財產法院組織法) to handle the lawsuits related to intellectual property disputes.
An amendment to the Military Service Act (兵役法) also cleared the legislature yesterday.
According to the amendment, the required age to be able to apply for retirement from the military will now be 36, down from 40.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said the amendment will potentially cut the number of military reservists by about 600,000 people.
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