The Constitutional Court is next month to start the process of handling a constitutional challenge calling for the use of swear words to be decriminalized in connection with public insults.
The challenge was brought by prominent figures involved in related lawsuits, such as media personality Neil Peng (馮光遠), author Chang Ta-chuen (張大春) and sports agent Yang Hui-ju (楊蕙如).
Peng was found guilty of public insult and fined NT$5,000 after calling former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) “a rotten egg,” “scum” and a “sleazebag” in 2015.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Chang had to pay a fine of NT$3,000 after being was found guilty of public insult for saying that media personality Liu Chun-yao (劉駿耀) had a head “full of shit,” and was “sleazy” and “shameless” in 2015.
Yang was found guilty of insulting a public official after instructing a man surnamed Tsai (蔡) to post messages online criticizing diplomatic officials at Taiwan’s representative office in Osaka, Japan, for their alleged failure to assist Taiwanese passengers stranded at Osaka Kansai International Airport during a typhoon in 2018.
Yang last year paid a NT$150,000 fine in lieu of serving a five-month sentence.
She is among eight plaintiffs challenging the offense of insulting a public official, saying it infringes on her freedom of speech.
The offense falls under Article 149 of the Criminal Code, and those found guilty of it can be sentenced to up to one year in prison and fined up to NT$100,000.
Thirty plaintiffs are challenging the public insult offense. Most of them were convicted under Article 309 of the Criminal Code, which imposes a fine of up to NT$9,000.
Some of the cases involved the utterance of obscene terms, colloquial expletives or other slurs such as “slut” or “idiot.”
Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力), who heads the Constitutional Court, said that the oral arguments on public insults and insulting a public official would be heard on Dec. 25 and 26 respectively.
By law, a ruling must be made within three months of that date, although a two-month extension can be granted.
Before becoming president of the Judicial Yuan in 2016, Hsu in 2012 criticized the authorities and courts for indicting people for insulting others.
Hsu at the time recommended a review, saying the courts should interpret tarnishing of one’s character and dignity as relating to hatred “based on race, religious beliefs, gender and sexual orientation.”
More common insults such as the use of expletives during disputes, although they could hurt someone’s feelings, should not be an issue court should have to deal with, Hsu said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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