Courts should force local governments to accept marriage registrations from same-sex couples, rather than wait for the Legislative Yuan to take action, same-sex marriage rights advocates said yesterday outside the Taipei High Administrative Court, protesting against potential “civil union” legislation.
The protest coincided with the reopening of several suits against local governments which refused to register same-sex unions in 2014, which had been put on hold in expectation of a Council of Grand Justices interpretation on the constitutionality of Civil Code provisions.
The grand justices in May ruled the Civil Code is unconstitutional in its failure to recognize same-sex couples’ unions, while also ruling that the Legislative Yuan should decide whether to amend the Civil Code, pass a “special law” or use other means to recognize marriage equality, leaving open the question of whether “civil unions” would be sufficient.
Photo: CNA
The Legislative Yuan has two years to pass related legislation, with same-sex couples granted the right to directly register marriages if no legislation is passed before the deadline.
“We hope the courts will also force a review of the original administrative decisions denying same-sex registration rights, because they have already been determined to be illegal,” said Awakening Foundation member Chuang Chiao-ju (莊喬汝), who is also an attorney for of one of the couples involved in the legal dispute.
“The council’s ruling very clearly states that not permitting same-sex couples to marry is unconstitutional, and that applies immediately, not in two years,” lawyer Pan Tien-ching (潘天慶) said.
Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights chief executive officer Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) said a number of couples attempted to register immediately following the grand justices’ decision, only to be told that are still no “legal grounds” for accepting their registration.
Most local governments now accept registrations which “annotate” the household registrations of same-sex couples, but such registrations do not offer the same legal rights as a marriage, Hsu said.
“If the court finds the original decision unconstitutional while still allowing the executive branch to do anything it pleases, then they are just stalling,” she said, adding that courts have the authority to deal with individual cases.
“The decision said same-sex couples could directly register their union if the law is not changed in two years, but the legal foundation for allowing such registration is not from nowhere, it exists now,” she said. “While there might be complications if the Legislative Yuan passes something different, that should not be a reason to refuse the rights couples who wish to register now.”
At yesterday’s hearing, the judge said case rests on two main points: First, if the decision by registration offices was legal, and second, if the High Administrative Court has the authority to review the decision.
On the first issue, the grand justices made the ruling, which would render decisions by registration offices in violation of the law, the judge said.
People opposed to marriage equality also protested at the court shouting: “The justice system is not for playing games; the constitutional interpretation has no credibility” and “TAPCPR [Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights], do not try to fool the people, the constitutional interpretation was a bungled decision. It has no binding power.”
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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