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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS