The Cabinet yesterday approved an amendment to the Household Registration Law (
"The amendment was drafted to deter people from making false national identification cards, as this criminal behavior seriously undermines people's rights and interests," Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said during the Cabinet's weekly meeting.
At present, wrongdoers face a maximum of one-year sentence or a fine of NT$300 for forging documents in accordance with Article 212 of the Criminal Law (
Meanwhile, people who give their identification cards to others would face a maximum of three years in jail or a maximum fine of NT$300,000 if the amendment passes the legislature.
The amendment also calls for the removal of an article stipulating that individuals claiming new national identification cards must be fingerprinted. The amendment was in line with a constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices that ruled the article "unconstitutional."
The Cabinet yesterday also approved an amendment to the Copyright Intermediary Organization Act (著作權仲介團體條例) revising outdated regulations enacted 11 years ago and a draft bill aimed at establishing the National Academy for Education Research Institution.
In other news, starting on May 23, marriages will be valid only after being officially registered at local household registration offices, Deputy Minister of the Interior Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) said yesterday.
"Because of amendments to the Civil Code adopted last year and which will come into force on May 23, marriages will only be valid after being officially registered," Lin said.
Prior to the amendment, the validity of a marriage followed a "ceremonial system" in which a marriage becomes valid when the groom and the bride are married in an open ceremony with more than two guarantors as witnesses, Lin said.
"Under the current system, it doesn't matter when the married couple register their marriage," she said.
Once the new system comes into force, the two guarantors will still be required, but they will also have to provide their signatures.
The new system, however, faces some challenges.
"People traditionally prefer to get married on weekends or holidays, but house registration offices are closed on those days," Lin said.
"We will call a meeting -- probably next week -- with local household registration officials to seek a way to solve the problem," she said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS