Proposed legislation by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to make contempt of the legislature a punishable offense would have a chilling effect, making officials, citizens and civic groups unwilling to come forward to present information at the legislature, Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said yesterday.
KMT caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁), Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) and other legislators introduced bills focused on legislature reform, including amendments to the Criminal Code.
Chen told a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee that they have the right to address issues on exercising their authority as elected representatives, “but to introduce a ‘contempt of legislature offense would result in a chilling effect.”
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
He pointed to the ultima ratio principle, which says that the repressive nature of the criminal justice system, and positioned it as the last resort of the legislator.
It is possible to overuse the criminal justice system to restrict rights and freedoms, and should therefore be applied in exceptional cases only, where other means cannot suffice to prevent offenses, he said.
“I ask lawmakers to reconsider this bill, which would make it a punishable offense for government officials and citizens to violate the ‘obligation to cooperate’ when requested by legislators,” Chen said.
Instead of adding it as a punishable offense under the Criminal Code, there are other ways of treating such matters, Chen added.
In a presentation, Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Chester Chou (周萬來) pointed to a bill amending the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) proposed by the KMT caucus to give lawmakers the right to hold public hearings — including those involving judicial investigations — and hearings to question government ministers.
Chou said the proposal would be deliberated to achieve a balance between the powers of the five branches of government, the need to protect state secrets and maintain the right of lawmakers to scrutinize policies and officials.
Chen pointed to constitutional interpretations No. 325, No. 585, No. 633 and No. 729.
“For amending portions relating to the Legislative Yuan’s power, we respect the opinions and viewpoints provided by the members of this committee... Although we must stress that it is important to conform to principle of proportionality under the Constitution, as well as the principle of clarity and definiteness of law and separation of powers,” Chen said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS