A number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers remained unconvinced of the suitability of two Council of Grand Justices nominees who previously held permanent residency in other countries yesterday, despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) endorsement.
Chen Be-yue (陳碧玉), the head of the Judicial Yuan’s Judicial Personnel Study Center, was a US citizen and then held a US green card for 18 months when serving on the Supreme Court. Another grand justice nominee, Lo Chang-fa (羅昌發), once held permanent residency in Canada.
Ma was quoted by Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chuang (羅智強) as saying on Friday that the nomination was a “proper decision.”
“We have so many talented individual who devote themselves to their judicial duties, why did [the president] have to nominate [Chen and Lo Chang-fa]? They should not have been included in the shortlist in the first place,” KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said yesterday.
right and proper
Ting said he disagreed with Ma that holding permanent residency abroad in the past did not make them unsuitable for the position as they had relinquished the status.
“I cannot accept that. They won’t have my vote,” Ting said.
In light of the fact that judicial reform has been one of the key issues in the mind of the public, whether a person has a strong sense of mission, is dedicated to his or her judicial duties and has faith in the country were important criteria to assess eligibility, he said.
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said that that “if Chen remains on the list, it is likely she will not be confirmed.”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) yesterday urged the KMT caucus to join his party’s plan to boycott the review of the list.
“The Presidential Office was lax in the nomination process and that is why so many controversies have arisen. In order to show his respect for the legislature, the president cannot just replace nominees again. Rather, he should present a new list,” Gao said.
judicial reform
In view of the disapproval voiced by some lawmakers, Lo last night said it was unnecessary for the president to re-nominate candidates as all four nominees are suitable candidates.
“We will seek support from people in a variety of circles,” he said.
The Central Personnel Administration has said that Chen had not broken any laws because the Nationality Act (國籍法) does not prohibit people who have permanent residence status in foreign countries from serving in public office and that Chen had renounced her US nationality when she served as a judge.
The Nationality Act stipulates that holders of dual citizenship must surrender their foreign citizenship before assuming public office.
Chen’s case has also resulted in fervent discussion on an internal Judicial Yuan Web site called “Judges’ forum,” the Chinese---language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday.
internal dissent
“If public servants acquiring foreign residency status or US green cards is not breaking the law, [Chen’s] colleagues should also apply,” an anonymous judge wrote.
Another anonymous judge commented that although the judicial Yuan has required every judge to fill out a questionnaire on whether they possess dual nationality or foreign permanent residence, it appeared that such queries had only a superficial effect.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING AND RICH CHANG
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS