The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a package of amendments to the Civil Code that would lower the age of majority from 20 to 18, which, if passed by the Legislative Yuan, is expected to take effect in 2023.
The package includes 38 legal amendments involving 14 central government agencies, Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
The proposals were made to bring the nation in line with the international trend, as the age of majority in the US, the UK, France and Germany are all 18, Lo said, adding that Japan in 2018 also passed legislation that lowered the legal age to 18.
Photo: CNA
The age of criminal responsibility is 18, but the legal age defined by the code is 20, which has resulted in incongruities, he said.
Furthermore, the legal age of marriage for men is 18, but 16 for women, which runs counter to the values of gender equality, he said.
International experts have said that the nation’s marriageable age for women contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and that allowing women to marry at the age of 16 is tantamount to condoning child marriage, he said.
The legal age in the code was defined in 1929, which no longer fits today’s needs, considering how much more mature young people are today than in the past, he said.
If passed, Taiwanese who have turned 18 would be able to do a list of things that they would otherwise have had to wait, including renting a house, signing a contract, opening a bank account, starting a company or serving as a company director, filing a lawsuit or becoming members of commercial or education groups, he said.
The lowering of the legal age would have a profound impact on the nation and usher in a new era, he said, adding that it is imperative that all agencies affected adjust their administrative work accordingly.
Society today is far more advanced from 91 years ago in that people are more educated and enlightened, which merits the lowering of the legal age, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
There are 110 nations in the world that set their age of majority at 18, he said.
Academics, civic groups and students have long called for the age to be lowered, and the changes have been proposed in response to public expectations, he said.
Government agencies should communicate extensively with legislative caucuses so that the proposals could swiftly be passed into law, he said.
National Alliance of Parents Organizations chairman Hsieh Kuo-ching (謝國清) said he welcomed the amendments, but added that the government should improve education on students’ problem solving skills and help them learn to be responsible for their decisions.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
RSS