A draft bill to govern same-sex marriage in accordance with the results of referendum No. 12 would be presented to the legislature for review before March 1, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.
The referendum asked: “Do you agree that the right to persons of the same sex to create a permanent union should be guaranteed by an institution other than marriage as defined by the Civil Code?”
Responding to questions by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lin Te-fu (林德福) and Jason Hsu (許毓仁) during a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) originally said that the draft legislation would be presented before May 24.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
However, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) questioned the time frame, saying that according to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), legislation required by a referendum must be presented to the Legislative Yuan within three months.
Tsai’s original date was chosen based on the Council of Grand Justices’ Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 made on May 24 last year, which states that the Civil Code’s definition of marriage as “the legal union between a man and a woman” violates the guaranteed rights of citizens under the Constitution.
However, the interpretation had not mandated that the administrative branch deliver a proposal before May 24 next year, Yu said.
Should new legislation addressing marriage rights fail to pass before May 24 next year, same-sex couples could register for marriage with signatures from at least two witnesses at household registration offices, Yu said.
The interpretation’s final deadline and the referendum’s legal deadline should both be observed, Tsai said without providing a solution.
In response to Hsu’s question whether human rights could be decided by a referendum, Tsai said that human rights are universal.
Tsai declined to comment on whether allowing referendums on same-sex marriage was a mistake, saying only that the ministry’s goal has always been to protect human rights.
Unitarian Universalist UN Office director Bruce Knotts in his opening address at the International Forum on Freedom and Democracy in Taipei on Monday said that human rights issues should never be put to a vote.
The referendums held on Nov. 24 were comparable to laws passed in Nazi Germany, he added.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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