The Council of Grand Justices on Friday dismissed a request by the Control Yuan for a constitutional interpretation of the legality of the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例).
The council said it was not within the remit of the Control Yuan to request a constitutional interpretation.
The Control Yuan in 2016 received a petition asking it to investigate the legality of the act — through which the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee was created — and it found that the act and the committee were unconstitutional, with the latter contravening the Basic Code Governing Central Administrative Agencies Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法).
Photo: Wu Cheng-fong, Taipei Times
The Control Yuan last year filed the request for a constitutional interpretation.
The council gave four reasons for its dismissal of the request.
First, the right to request constitutional interpretations resides with the Judicial Yuan; the Control Yuan does not have the right to do so.
Second, the request was based on the premise that it was normal for the council to process constitutional interpretations filed by the Control Yuan, but this practice was abolished in 1992 after the elections for the second Legislative Yuan, which normalized the constitutional system, so the council no longer has to comply with Control Yuan requests.
Third, the Control Yuan launched its investigation before determining whether the act was unconstitutional, but it is only delegated to impeach, censure and audit.
Fourth, the Control Yuan may request a constitutional interpretation on the condition that laws are potentially unconstitutional; it cannot request interpretations based on its own investigations.
If the procedure the Control Yuan went through to file the request were constitutional, that would mean it had the power to second-guess laws passed by the Legislative Yuan, which would unbalance the five branches of government, the council said.
However, the resolution was not a consensus, with grand justices Tang Te-tsung (湯德宗), Huang Hsi-chun (黃璽君), Lin Chun-yi (林俊益), Chang Chiung-wen (張瓊文) and Wu Chen-huan (吳陳鐶) saying that the request should have been processed, while Huang Horng-hsya (黃虹霞) expressed partial agreement.
Nine justices said that the request should be dismissed.
It was the first time the council has made public the individual stances of the grand justices.
Control Yuan members Chang Kuei-mei (仉桂美) and Liu Te-shun (劉德勳), who filed the request, criticized the dismissal, saying the Judicial Yuan has trampled on the constitutional system and the five branches of government.
“The Control Yuan might as well be abolished,” they said, adding that the council had imposed on itself a “historical burden” and that there would be a heavy price to pay for its decision.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general William Tseng (曾銘宗) called the council’s decision “regrettable,” while he questioned the need for the council.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus director-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said the Legislative Yuan stands by the laws that are passed based on prevalent public opinion.
“If members of the Control Yuan can request constitutional interpretations whenever they are not happy [with a law], the checks and balances of the constitutional system would be thrown into turmoil,” Lee said.
Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-gang (施錦芳) said the committee respects the council’s decision.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu and Su Fun-her
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS