All of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) nominations to the Council of Grand Justices are qualified, a civic evaluation committee said yesterday, although members of a civic watchdog group said a lack of information meant their approval would be withheld.
A review committee formed by the civic groups that comprise the Alliance for Civic Oversight of Supreme Court Justice Nominees gave all seven of Tsai’s nominees a passing score of at least seven out of 10, with Judicial Yuan president nominee and former grand justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) receiving the highest ranking.
Committee members — judges, academics and lawyers nominated by the alliance — assigned scores for character, personality traits, professional knowledge and knowledge of constitutional law and human rights.
The nominees for Judicial Yuan president and vice president were rated on their judicial reform policies, with a “pass” or “fail” grade assigned based on their average score.
Grand Justice nominee Chang Chiung-wen (張瓊文) received the lowest ranking, barely making the seven-point cut-off after receiving sub-par marks for professional knowledge and human rights, with the evaluation citing a lack of academic publications and civic activism.
Judicial Yuan vice presidential nominee Tsai Chung-tun (蔡炯燉) received sub-par marks for constitutional law and human rights, while Grand Justice nominee Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄) received a sub-par score for professional knowledge.
Taipei Society representative Chiou Wen-tsong (邱文聰) said that Tsai Chung-tun only passed because of strong marks for his judicial reform views, while adding that substantial information might have been left out of the evaluation process.
“Because we do not have all of the information, it is possible that we have not received some negative information on past actions, which might disqualify the nominees,” he said.
Other alliance members said that Chang and Grand Justice nominee Huang Chao-yuan (黃昭元) declined to return evaluation committee questionnaires.
“Unless there is a law in place requiring nominees to provide this information, there will be limits to even the best efforts of civil society,” Chiou said, adding that yesterday’s hearing at the Legislative Yuan was a meaningless formality.
“The nominees were not even required to attend, so there are huge questions over whether the hearings can provide substantive review,” he said.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said that Hsu’s response on the issue of homosexual marriage was “vague,” with Hsu's response leaving open the possibility that homosexual marriage should be rejected if it could be demonstrated that homosexuality was “abnormal.
The Awakening Foundation — a feminist group — declined to attend yesterday’s press conference to avoid giving the appearance of endorsing the nominees, he said.
The foundation released a statement criticizing Hsu, Tsai, Chang and Huang, saying they had not made clear their positions on “same-sex marriage and other gender issues.”
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS