The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year are unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers.
The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 20 last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 grand justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine grand justices must agree to declare a law unconstitutional.
The Executive Yuan on Jan. 2 requested that lawmakers reconsider the bill, but the Legislative Yuan, under a combined majority of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators, rejected the motion.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus then filed for a constitutional interpretation of the bill, and the court accepted the case on May 14.
The Constitution stipulates that the Constitutional Court shall have 15 grand justices. The terms of seven grand justices ended on Oct. 31 last year, but opposition lawmakers in July rejected all of President William Lai’s (賴清德) grand justice nominees.
Lai has not nominated a new set of nominees since.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Five of the remaining grand justices ruled the bill unconstitutional, handing down the Court’s first judgement this year.
The bill’s legislative process contained clear and serious procedural flaws, contravening the Constitution’s requirements of due legislative process, and breaks the principle of separation of powers.
The other three justices said the judgement is invalid, as amendments promulgated in January stipulate that the Court must have 10 grand justices to deliberate.
Photo: CNA
DPP caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said it is gratifying that citizens’ constitutional rights would have protection again, now that the Constitutional Court could return to functioning properly.
“Its rulings are above partisan party politics, and can curtail the authority of the Executive Branch,” DPP deputy chief executive Fan Yun (范雲) said. “It is the last line of defense for Taiwan democracy.”
The KMT slammed the Constitutional Court for convening a session despite having only eight grand justices, saying it contravened the law.
“This has buried the independence of our judiciary,” it said, adding the that the Court aimed “to clear obstacles for Lai to realize a ‘green dictatorship’ where executive, legislative and judicial powers are consolidated.”
According to the revised and the original version of the constitutional litigation law, at least six justices are required to convene a session, the KMT said.
“The Constitutional Court session was therefore held illegally, and the ruling is, of course, illegal,” it added.
TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the ruling effectively aligned with Lai, fostering the development of a “green dictatorship.”
As three of the grand judges did not participate in the court hearings and instead submitted legal opinions outside the court, rather than issuing dissenting opinions within the ruling, “this highlights the illegality of the Constitutional Court’s composition,” he said.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan and Shih Hsiao-kuan
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS