The nationalization of Taiwan’s 17 irrigation associations under the Agency of Irrigation in July 2020 did not contravene the Constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled yesterday.
The move did not contravene the principle of legal clarity, nor people’s freedom of association, guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution, said Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力), who heads the Constitutional Court.
The nationalization process did not infringe on property rights, nor did it violate the non-retroactivity principle or the principle of legitimate expectation, Hsu said.
Photo: Tsung Chang-chin, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators said the nationalization of the irrigation associations under the Irrigation Act (農田水利法) was disproportionate and amounted to stealing from the public.
The irrigation agency was established without amending the Organizational Act of the Council of Agriculture (行政院農業委員會組織條例), and therefore breached the legal reservation principle and the Act Governing Central Administrative Agencies and Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法), the legislators said.
The agency was founded via executive order, instead of by following due process, they said.
The Taoyuan irrigation association, a plaintiff in the case, said the act breached its members’ freedom of association, infringed on their property rights and endangered their livelihood.
The Executive Yuan countered the argument, saying that irrigation associations are public legal persons that provide indirect administrative oversight on behalf of the government.
Therefore, the former irrigation association system was not based on constitutional rights and the associations cannot ask for basic guarantees under the Constitution, the Cabinet said.
Taiwanese expect improvements to food safety, and fair and efficient use of water in light of changing agricultural practices amid concerns over climate change, the Council of Agriculture said.
These are expectations that the irrigation associations, many of which were mired in financial and administrative issues, could no longer meet, the council said.
The need to nationalize the associations into a government agency was urgent and necessary, it said.
The government initiated dialogue with the associations and the public to ensure they are involved in every step of the transition, the council added.
‘UNACCEPTABLE’: The foreign ministry said that China’s behavior broke international law, while Johnny Chiang was worried such balloons could be used against Taiwan A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the US was yesterday condemned by officials in Taipei and sparked calls for the government to plan countermeasures. The Pentagon on Thursday said it had detected a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the country. Beijing has said the balloon is a civilian meteorological device that drifted into US territory after being blown off course. The National Security Bureau and Ministry of National Defense should investigate whether surveillance balloons could be used against Taiwan and prepare to respond to such acts, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s postponement
INTELLIGENCE VALUE: While the US was working on recovering the balloon’s remains, China said that it reserved ‘the right to make ... necessary responses’ US President Joe Biden’s administration lauded the Pentagon for shooting down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the US Atlantic coast on Saturday, but China angrily voiced its “strong dissatisfaction” at the move, and said it might make “necessary responses.” The craft spent several days flying over North America before it was targeted off the coast of the southeastern state of South Carolina with a missile fired from an F-22 plane, Pentagon officials said. It fell into relatively shallow water just 14m deep. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a “deliberate and lawful action” that came in response to China’s
RISK FACTOR: ASEAN issued a statement saying the cross-strait situation ‘could lead to miscalculation,’ but it is willing to facilitate dialogue to ensure stability in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a joint statement by ASEAN leaders voicing concerns that the situation across the Taiwan Strait could affect regional stability. The statement was issued after the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat ended on Saturday in Jakarta. It was the first major meeting since Indonesia assumed chairmanship of ASEAN this year. Attendees of the meeting reiterated their determination to promote “sustainable peace, security, stability, and prosperity within and beyond the region,” the statement said. They expressed concerns about developments across the Taiwan Strait and their “implications on regional stability,” the statement said. The cross-strait situation “could lead to miscalculation, serious
THINK TANK VISIT: The former US Indo-Pacific official said that a capture of Taiwan’s outlying islands by China rather than a large-scale attack is a grave security concern The US and Taiwan can deepen their relations on many fronts, former head of the US Indo-Pacific Command Philip Davidson said yesterday while visiting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office. Davidson is leading a six-member delegation from the National Bureau of Asian Research, a US-based think tank. They arrived on Monday and are scheduled to depart tomorrow. Tsai met with the delegation yesterday morning, welcoming the organization on its first visit to Taiwan since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the office said in a statement. She thanked Davidson, a retired admiral, for paying close attention to matters regarding the Taiwan