The Council of Grand Justices ruled yesterday that current laws regulating the dismissal process of civil servants are unconstitutional, and demanded that relevant statutes be revised within two years to comply with the ruling.
The decree was hailed by a lawyer who applied for a ruling on the subject for his client, a dismissed policeman, as a blessing for civil servants.
"Dismissal of civil servants should be regulated by law, but until now, it has been regulated by rules issued by the Executive Yuan's Ministry of Personnel. That is unconstitutional," explained Yang Jen-shou (
According to the Law on Evaluation of Public Officials, if a person receives two demerits simultaneously, they are summarily dismissed. The guidelines for issuing demerits are set by the Ministry of Personnel.
"In the spirit of the 23rd article of the Constitution, conditions in which disciplinary action is taken that deprives public officials of their jobs should be written in the law," the Council said in its ruling.
Thus the current law on evaluation is unconstitutional, according to the ruling. Article 23 of the Constitution stipulates that all freedoms and rights covered in the Constitution shall not be restricted by law, except such as may be necessary to prevent infringing on the freedom of other persons, to avert an imminent crisis, to maintain social order or to advance public welfare.
To deprive public officials of their jobs is a restriction on people's rights to hold public office as stipulated in Article 18 of the Constitution, thus due legal process should be in place, the ruling said.
In addition, if a public official is to be fired, they should be given a period of suspension from duty to allow them to appeal, the ruling said. Only after the appeal process is completed and disciplinary action upheld should an official be removed, it said.
However, in the interests of the stability of law, the Council ruled that unconstitutional though it may be, the legislation in question should remain in force for two years, after which it is to be annulled.
This decree was handed down in response to an application for a constitutional ruling filed by a policeman who lost his job after being given two demerits at once after being investigated on suspicion of associating with gangsters, according to the Council.
He was trying to retrieve money owed to him. The policeman was later acquitted of the charges against him, but his superiors refused to reinstate him, it said.
Lawyer Chen Ching-hsiou (陳清秀) who filed the application on behalf of the dismissed policeman, was satisfied with the outcome of the ruling.
"This is a blessing for public officials," he told the Taipei Times. "I did not expect the ruling would be handed down so soon," he said.
"This is a rationalization of the disciplinary system for public officials," Chen said. "Until now, the regulations governing dismissal of public officials have been ambiguous and people were fired on the basis of `improper actions,' which could refer to just about anything. And officials [under the old legislation] had no idea if or when they could lose their jobs. In the future, public officials will know what can be done and what can't," Chen said.
But his client will not benefit from the ruling immediately because of the two-year "sunset clause," he said.
Chen was upbeat, however, and said: "I'll suggest my client file another appeal asking the police authorities to reinstate him."
"This time we should have a better chance," he said.
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