The Legislative Yuan yesterday rejected all seven nominees for the Constitutional Court, an expected outcome that could immobilize the court.
President William Lai (賴清德) nominated the justice candidates, including the nominees for the president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan, at the end of August.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus opposed all the nominees, while Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said his party only approved of National Taiwan University (NTU) Graduate Institute of National Development professor Liu Ching-yi (劉靜怡).
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus opposed the appointment of Liu, but approved the other nominees.
As defenders of the Constitution, the justices should not be divided along party lines, and should have the courage to criticize those in power and not submit to their will, Huang said.
The justices must also respect the authority of the Legislative Yuan and support congressional reform, he added.
That one of Lai’s nominees was opposed by his own party shows that he and the DPP are not only paralyzing the legislature, but also the Constitutional Court, the TPP said, adding that the DPP opposed her appointment because she had said there is “room for improvement” regarding the Constitutional Court’s ruling on controversial legislative oversight amendments.
The TPP supported Liu because she is brave enough to have a nonpartisan stance on issues, it said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the party unanimously agreed to vote against Liu’s nomination because she had insulted DPP legislators.
He said that Liu had claimed that former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) were corrupt.
“We would rather kill ourselves than vote for Liu,” he said.
He said he had called Lai in the morning, telling him that the DPP caucus would uphold its autonomy in the legislature, and Lai told him he respects their decision.
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) said the rejection was tantamount to a “no confidence” vote on Lai.
The justices “castrated” the legislature’s power in the Constitutional Court, he said.
Lai should learn from former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who knew how to respect and negotiate with both the ruling and opposition parties, he said.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said that Lai respects, but deeply regrets the result, and hopes that the Judicial Yuan’s operations can return to normal, as the vote outcome could disrupt it and the Constitutional Court.
The president would proceed with the nomination process, she said.
Regarding DPP legislators’ opposition to Liu, Kuo said that Lai understands and respects the autonomy of the DPP caucus.
The administration is considering all legal and constitutional means to maintain Taiwan’s democracy, she said, adding that holding a referendum is not among the options being discussed.
Chang Wen-chin (張文貞), the nominee for president of the Judicial Yuan, would have become the head of the Constitutional Court if her nomination had been successful.
A professor of law at NTU and chair of the Restoration of Victims’ Rights Infringed by Illegal Acts of the State During the Period of Authoritarian Rule Foundation, she in August argued in the Constitutional Court that there were serious flaws in the way controversial legislative oversight bills were passed, calling for them to be declared unconstitutional.
The nominee for vice president of the Judicial Yuan, Yao Li-ming (姚立明), is chair of the Parliament Observation Culture and Education Foundation and ran Lai’s presidential campaign.
The other justice nominees were Liu; Her Lai-jier (何賴傑), a professor of law at National Chengchi University; Chen Yun-tsai (陳運財), a professor of law at National Cheng Kung University; Wang Pi-fang (王碧芳), a presiding judge at the Supreme Administrative Court; and Ford Liao (廖福特), a research professor at Academia Sinica’s Institutum Iurisprudentiae.
The approval of judicial nominees requires support from more than half of the legislature, meaning 57 affirmative votes were required in the 113-seat legislature.
All nominees received 51 votes for their appointment and 62 votes against, except for Liu, who received eight votes for and 105 votes against.
Only eight justices are serving on the Constitutional Court after the eight-year terms of seven others ended on Oct. 31. The court has the fewest justices since the introduction of judicial interpretation in the Republic of China in 1947, and it is the first time that the Judicial Yuan, which oversees the Constitutional Court, does not have a president and vice president.
On Friday last week, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) that stipulate if the number of justices falls below 15, the president must submit nominations to fill the vacancies within two months.
Additionally, they stipulate that no fewer than 10 judges participate in deliberations, with at least nine agreeing to pass a ruling of unconstitutionality.
Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan, Liu Wan-lin, Chen Yun and Bloomberg
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