During the recent dispute over the relaxation of beef import regulations, opposition legislators blocked legislative proceedings, occupied the podium and slept on the legislative floor until the session was adjourned, thus paralyzing legislative business.
It was not the first time this happened. During past reviews of the Organic Act of the Central Election Commission (中央選舉委員會組織法) and laws regarding local government autonomy and allowing Chinese university students into Taiwanese universities, opposition lawmakers also occupied the podium and locked Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) out, sometimes setting off violent clashes. In response to public calls for the speaker to call in the police, Wang said there was no legal basis for him to do so.
Indeed, there are no clear regulations that confer on the speaker the right to call in the police, as Article 3 of the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) only states that a speaker shall maintain order in the legislature based on the principle of neutrality and fairness. There is no clause stipulating that the legislative speaker has any police powers. Nor is there any provision stipulating that the speaker has any such powers in the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Yuan (立法院議事規則). It is merely stated in Article 5 of the Legislative Yuan’s security guard duty rules that guards shall respond to a call from the speaker or a legislative committee chairman to instill order on the legislative floor, prevent danger and protect the lawmakers.
However, these rules do not have significant power and do not clearly identify the speaker as the person in who these powers are vested, thus making it inappropriate to base the speaker’s police powers on these rules.
Furthermore, mobilizing police who fall under the executive branch might confuse the executive and legislative powers. Legislative Yuan security guards fall under the executive branch. If the legislative speaker is given the right to direct and monitor them or order regular police to intervene in legislative procedure, there is a risk of systemic confusion.
Nevertheless, the parliamentary speakers in many advanced democracies such as the UK, the US, Germany, Japan and France enjoy significant police powers. For example, they can prohibit parliamentarians from speaking if they violate procedural rules or injure parliamentary dignity, and expel them from a session. When a British or US speaker wishes to expel a colleague, the violator is removed by a “sergeant at arms.” In Germany, the speaker can even temporarily suspend the right to attend meetings and review bills or issue a fine, while a French speaker can cancel a violator’s subsidies. All these measures are beneficial to the maintenance of parliamentary discipline and efficiency, and serve as good examples for Taiwan.
There are examples of countries that have legislated to give their speakers police powers, such as Japan and South Korea, while other countries uphold parliamentary autonomy, such as the US, Germany and France. There is no reason why the legislature cannot stipulate the speaker’s police powers in its internal rules, but the legitimacy of such powers would be increased if they were legally regulated.
Moreover, to maintain the principle of separation of powers, the legislature should learn from the US Congress, which created the Capitol Police in 1828, or Taiwan’s own judicial police system under the judicial branch. It could create a legislative police with duties, personnel and appointment that differ from the regular police. Under the direction of a sergeant at arms, they could assist the speaker to maintain legislative discipline, dignity, efficiency and security.
Liu Kung-chung is a research fellow at the Institutum Iurisprudentiae of Academia Sinica.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that democracies must remain united and that “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism.” Earlier that day, Tsai had met with a group of Danish parliamentarians led by Danish Parliament Speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, who has visited Taiwan many times, most recently in November last year, when she met with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office. Kjaersgaard had told Lai: “I can assure you that ... you can count on us. You can count on our support
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
Many local news media over the past week have reported on Internet personality Holger Chen’s (陳之漢) first visit to China between Tuesday last week and yesterday, as remarks he made during a live stream have sparked wide discussions and strong criticism across the Taiwan Strait. Chen, better known as Kuan Chang (館長), is a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman. He is known for his live streams, which are full of foul-mouthed and hypermasculine commentary. He had previously spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and criticized Taiwanese who “enjoy the freedom in Taiwan, but want China’s money”
A high-school student surnamed Yang (楊) gained admissions to several prestigious medical schools recently. However, when Yang shared his “learning portfolio” on social media, he was caught exaggerating and even falsifying content, and his admissions were revoked. Now he has to take the “advanced subjects test” scheduled for next month. With his outstanding performance in the general scholastic ability test (GSAT), Yang successfully gained admissions to five prestigious medical schools. However, his university dreams have now been frustrated by the “flaws” in his learning portfolio. This is a wake-up call not only for students, but also teachers. Yang did make a big
RSS