The Judicial Yuan would strictly adhere to the death penalty ruling issued by the Constitutional Court, National Taiwan University professor of law Chang Wen-chen (張文貞) told lawmakers yesterday.
Chang and Yao Li-ming (姚立明) — who in September were nominated by President William Lai (賴清德) to be the next head of the branch and Judicial Yuan vice president respectively — faced a review of their qualifications from lawmakers.
The Constitutional Court on Sept. 20 said that the death penalty is constitutional, but the government must cautiously execute it by strictly following legal procedures, as it is an extreme punishment.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
“The Constitutional Court has ruled that the death penalty is constitutional and required that due procedure must be followed before an execution can be carried out,” Chang said in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔). “That does not mean that the court would not be able to issue a death sentence.”
Yang asked Chang if she believed that the ruling would practically abolish capital punishment in Taiwan.
The Constitutional Court justices stated at the beginning of their ruling that the death penalty is constitutional, Chang said, adding that it is not an urgent issue.
There are more urgent issues, such as expediting court efficiency by revamping case management systems in the judicial branch and reforming legal procedures, she said.
Yang asked Chang if she would push to abolish the death penalty as Judicial Yuan president, as she is widely perceived as an opponent of the death penalty.
Chang said that the description of her was a misconception, adding that her only position on the death penalty as a nominee of a judicial post is to adhere to the ruling and interpretation of the Constitutional Court.
Referencing the political upheaval in South Korea triggered by a brief declaration of martial law, KMT Legislator Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之) asked whether the government has a mechanism to quickly end a hypothetical martial law decree issued by the president during a recess of the legislature, or whether that would require the Constitution and Martial Law Act (戒嚴法) to be amended.
The Constitution lists martial law and emergency orders as laws of the land when the country is in an emergency situation, Chang said.
While previous constitutional amendments had laid out clear procedures for issuing emergency orders, there have yet to be changes to procedures required to implement martial law, she said.
Article 39 of the Constitution stipulates that “the president may, in accordance with law, declare martial law with the approval of, or subject to confirmation by, the Legislative Yuan.”
When the Legislative Yuan deems it necessary, it may by resolution ask the president to terminate martial law, she said, citing the article.
However, the article does not list the time required to approve or confirm the president’s declaration of martial law, she said, adding that it gives the legislature some legal room and frees it from following Article 1 of the Martial Law Act.
Meanwhile, Yao dismissed criticism that he was only nominated to be the next Judicial Yuan vice president because the president was rewarding him for managing his presidential campaign and helping him get elected.
Yao vowed to uphold freedom of the press while in office.
Yao began his political career as a member of the New Party, but supported former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the 2012 presidential election.
He was later the campaign manager of Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) when he ran for Taipei mayor in 2014.
Last year, Yao was invited by Lai to manage his presidential campaign.
“I am a constitutional expert. The nomination should not be described as a political favor, considering the difficulty of having the appointment approved by the legislature with the Democratic Progressive Party being the minority,” he said.
“Some might say that I am a chameleon, moving in and out of political parties, but does it not show that I am not a loyalist to a party, but rather to my conscience and my professional expertise?” he asked.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
RSS