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Law on fake national ID cards could get tougher

The Cabinet yesterday approved an amendment to the Household Registration Law (戶籍法) that adds an article giving a maximum five-year jail sentence or a maximum fine of NT$500,000 for individuals who are caught making false national identification cards.

"The amendment was drafted to deter people from making false national identification cards, as this criminal behavior seriously undermines people's rights and interests," Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said during the Cabinet's weekly meeting.

At present, wrongdoers face a maximum of one-year sentence or a fine of NT$300 for forging documents in accordance with Article 212 of the Criminal Law (刑法).

Meanwhile, people who give their identification cards to others would face a maximum of three years in jail or a maximum fine of NT$300,000 if the amendment passes the legislature.

The amendment also calls for the removal of an article stipulating that individuals claiming new national identification cards must be fingerprinted. The amendment was in line with a constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices that ruled the article "unconstitutional."

The Cabinet yesterday also approved an amendment to the Copyright Intermediary Organization Act (著作權仲介團體條例) revising outdated regulations enacted 11 years ago and a draft bill aimed at establishing the National Academy for Education Research Institution.

In other news, starting on May 23, marriages will be valid only after being officially registered at local household registration offices, Deputy Minister of the Interior Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) said yesterday.

"Because of amendments to the Civil Code adopted last year and which will come into force on May 23, marriages will only be valid after being officially registered," Lin said.

Prior to the amendment, the validity of a marriage followed a "ceremonial system" in which a marriage becomes valid when the groom and the bride are married in an open ceremony with more than two guarantors as witnesses, Lin said.

"Under the current system, it doesn't matter when the married couple register their marriage," she said.

Once the new system comes into force, the two guarantors will still be required, but they will also have to provide their signatures.

The new system, however, faces some challenges.

"People traditionally prefer to get married on weekends or holidays, but house registration offices are closed on those days," Lin said.

"We will call a meeting -- probably next week -- with local household registration officials to seek a way to solve the problem," she said.
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