The Constitutional Court yesterday struck down a rule requiring female firefighters to be at least 1.6m tall, saying that it contravened the Constitution.
Rules governing the civil service entrance examination for police and firefighters stipulate a height requirement of 1.65m for men and 1.6m for women, or 1.58m and 1.55m respectively for indigenous male and female candidates.
In 2018, a woman surnamed Chen (陳) passed the certification test for firefighters, but was eliminated from the program after a second physical exam showed her to be 1.1cm short of the height requirement.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
She filed an administrative appeal and after it was dismissed, asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the matter, arguing that the height requirement and being told to take a second physical examination contravened her rights.
Chen’s attorney during oral arguments on Jan. 16 said that the height limits have no scientific basis and deprived the plaintiff of her right to join the civil service.
The second physical exam ordered by Chen’s instructors at the academy stemmed from the provision of the regulation allowing such tests to be taken again “for cause,” a broad and vague phrase that infringes on the principle of legal clarity, her attorney said.
Lawyers representing the Ministry of Examination and the Ministry of the Interior said that the height requirement was to help ensure police and firefighters are physically capable of performing their duties and can use standard-issue equipment.
National Fire Agency Director-General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章) told the court that firefighters are expected to meet physical standards to minimize operational risks and that short people are not suitable for the job.
Indigenous candidates have separate height standards because they are shorter on average than other Taiwanese, Hsiao said, adding that using a common standard could be racially discriminatory.
However, the court said that the height limits would exclude female candidates from becoming first responders more often than it would males, contravening the equal protection principle in Article 8 of the Constitution.
The height requirement must be removed within a year of the judgement, it said.
The other part of the lawsuit concerning the rule authorizing government departments to order a second physical exam for cause was dismissed, as the court did not find the meaning of “cause” to be unclear.
Chen said that she wanted to become a firefighter to help people such as her ill mother, adding that she was dumbstruck that she could be barred from joining the service due to her height.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
RSS