The Council of Grand Justices yesterday ruled that parts of the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) were unconstitutional and demanded that the relevant agencies rectify mistakes in those parts within a year or the act will be abolished.
However, the verdicts in four related controversial cases, including one concerning the forced demolition of houses in the Wenlin Yuan (文林苑) area of Taipei’s Shilin District (士林), will not be affected, as the grand justices did not order an immediate termination of the controversial articles that they deemed unconstitutional.
According to Constitutional Interpretation No. 709, handed down yesterday, Article 10, Section 1 of the act did not set up a proper body to review cases. It also did not guarantee that individuals involved in cases had access to relevant information and had the opportunity to voice their opinions.
The grand justices singled out Article 13, Section 3 of the act and said that it did not demand the authorities deliver all relevant information to all legal property owners involved in cases, or demand that a public hearing be held where all parties involved can state their opinions.
The grand justices said that Section 3 also did not require relevant authorities to send a finalized version of all the pros and cons for urban renewal projects to all legal owners of land and buildings.
The grand justices ruled that all the sections under the two articles did not comply with the constitutional requirement of legally sanctioned administrative procedure.
Meanwhile, the grand justices denied a request to review the legality of the Taipei City Government’s forced demolition of the Wang (王) family house in the Wenlin Yuan area, saying that because the case was still being heard at the Taipei High Administrative Court, they could not accede to the request.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
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