Judicial Reform Foundation members and a group of civic organizations yesterday announced they would hold a rally on Friday demanding that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) withdraw proposals to amend the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法).
KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) has proposed specifying that the Constitutional Court must consist of 15 justices and that a two-thirds majority would be needed to issue a ruling.
The groups accused Weng and the KMT of using political ploys to destroy Taiwan’s constitutional democracy, abusing legislative authority to undermine the proper functioning of the judiciary and denying citizens their right to request a constitutional interpretation.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
They also said the proposal to raise the threshold was a major retrogression for the judicial reform movement and that paralyzing the Constitutional Court would create a constitutional crisis and lead to the dismantling of Taiwan’s democratic framework.
In a joint statement, the groups voiced five demands:
First, that Weng withdraw the bills immediately and apologize to the public.
Second, that TPP legislators oppose the amendments.
Third, legislators must not proceed with the amendment before ratifying the new nominees for Constitutional Court justices, as that would paralyze the Constitutional Court.
Fourth, the Legislative Yuan should listen to the opinions and suggestions of legal experts, civic society groups and all sectors of society regarding the amendments and the impact of such changes.
Lastly, legislators should take into account gender equality and the rights of workers, marginalized groups, indigenous peoples and the underprivileged.
Legislators, regardless of their political affiliations, must protect and maintain the functionality of the Constitutional Court, the groups said in the statement.
The event, titled “Defend the Constitution,” is to start on Friday evening outside the Legislative Yuan.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS