Opposition lawmakers on Friday pushed through amendments to raise the threshold for adjudication by the Constitutional Court, including a revision that mandates a minimum of 10 justices to hear a case.
The amendments adopted by the Legislative Yuan were partly based on a proposal by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) at the end of September, notably the measure setting the quorum for presiding over a case at 10 justices.
However, the revisions also included additional provisions put forth on the legislative floor only on Friday by the caucuses of the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which together hold a majority of the seats in the lawmaking body.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
One such provision stipulates that a ruling of unconstitutionality by the court — which would affect existing laws — be backed by at least nine justices.
Current rules do not specify a minimum number of justices required to hear a case.
Instead, they simply mandate the presence of at least two-thirds of all sitting justices, with a ruling determined by a simple majority vote.
The Constitutional Court normally has 15 justices, but currently only has eight because the eight-year terms of seven of the justices ended on Oct. 31.
President William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominated new justices to replace them, but confirmation hearings were stalled until Dec. 2 by KMT and TPP lawmakers, who have argued that Lai’s picks were highly partisan, including the campaign director of Lai’s presidential campaign, Yao Li-ming (姚立明), as deputy head of the Judicial Yuan.
Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the seven nominees on Tuesday and unless they approve at least two of them, the amendments would in effect immobilize the current eight-member court.
With only eight justices, the Constitutional Court has its lowest number of justices since the introduction of judicial interpretation in 1947.
Another new measure passed on Friday states that if the number of sitting justices on the court falls below 15 due to mandatory retirement, resignation or death, the president must nominate replacements within two months.
The DPP and some civil groups have denounced the opposition’s bid to curb the Constitutional Court’s ability to rule on cases.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) described the amendments as “an act of retaliation” driven by recent Constitutional Court rulings to “paralyze” the court.”
She was likely referring to rulings this year that restricted the use of the death penalty in Taiwan and struck down the bulk of KMT-endorsed measures granting the Legislative Yuan broader investigative powers.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS