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.
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