The Constitutional Court yesterday announced the procedures for the morning and afternoon sessions on Aug. 6 to hear oral arguments from lawyers and representatives of political parties on a constitutional interpretation regarding executive oversight amendments, following the granting of a temporary injunction on Friday last week against the amendments.
The Constitutional Court justices would preside over the two hearing sessions on the legislation amendments introduced and passed by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers, and opposed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The Constitutional Court has scheduled Aug. 5 to hear from the KMT and TPP on requiring the president to give a state of the nation address at the legislature and answer questions from legislators, and the rights of lawmakers for confirmation hearings, reject key appointments to government ministries and make changes to the legislative process.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The afternoon session would hear on amendments to expand lawmakers’ investigative powers to hold legislative hearings into cases under investigation, and changes to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code that would make “contempt of the legislature” a punishable crime.
In the court’s notification, the Aug. 6 sessions would start at 9am, and would finish at 5pm.
Meanwhile, the Judicial Yuan in a release yesterday said that people who threaten or incite violence against the personal safety of grand justices would be prosecuted.
The Judicial Yuan said that a police investigation is ongoing after reports of people posting messages on social media platforms threatening the grand justices.
“People who threaten the personal safety and property of grand justices have exceeded the bounds of freedom of expression. In a free and democratic society with the rule of law, such offenses cannot be tolerated, and therefore an investigation has been initiated to collect evidence and other legal procedures for prosecution,” the release said.
“We urge the public to condemn such action of contravening the law, which also endangers the nation’s democratic Constitutional framework,” it added.
“The grand justices are bound by their official duty to take on the work for constitutional interpretation, in acting as the last line of defense to uphold the Constitution. By law, the grand justices have judicial independence to make rulings, without interference, and they are also obliged to hear from all sectors of the society and to accept criticism,” it said.
“However, any deliberate actions to defame or vilify the Grand Justices are attacks against our democratic Constitutional framework, which could lead to public confrontation, destabilize the rule of law and result in social disorder,” the release said.
“Therefore we urge the public to conduct discussions with reasons and self-discipline, without resorting to threats of violence,” the release added.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS