Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) announced seven nominees for the Constitutional Court today, nearly two months after the legislature rejected President William Lai’s (賴清德) previous selections.
Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) was nominated for Judicial Yuan president, while Supreme Court Justice Su Su-e (蘇素娥) was tapped for vice president, Hsiao told a news conference in Taipei.
The other five nominees are National Chung-Cheng University law professor Hsiao Wen-sheng (蕭文生), Supreme Court Justice Cheng Chun-hui (鄭純惠), Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Lin Li-ying (林麗瑩), legal expert Chen Tzu-yang (陳慈陽) and National Chengchi University law professor Chan Chen-jung (詹鎮榮).
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The nominees’ expertise covers civil, criminal, administrative and constitutional law, and would result in a judiciary that the public can trust, the Presidential Office said.
Hsiao Bi-khim praised Tsai and Su for their extensive experience, notably their roles in trying a major corruption case in the 1990s regarding the military’s procurement of La Fayette-class frigates from France.
They have made “significant contributions to Taiwanese efforts to recover illicit gains,” Hsiao Bi-khim said, referring to bribes and kickbacks taken by officials and arms brokers involved in the deal.
The president made the nominations after careful consideration and consultations with various parties, and asks the Legislative Yuan to approve the nominees, she said.
Lai nominated seven candidates in August last year to replace judges whose eight-year terms expired on Oct. 31 last year, but they all were rejected by the Legislative Yuan in December last year.
That prevented the Judicial Yuan from functioning normally and disrupted the separation of powers between the five branches of government, Hsiao Bi-khim said, adding that she hopes the ruling and opposition parties would uphold professionalism and consider diverse issues that concern the public, and agree this time.
The Constitutional Court, which normally has 15 justices, but currently only has eight, has been effectively immobilized since measures passed by opposition lawmakers requiring a minimum of 10 justices to hear and rule on a case took effect on Jan. 25.
Tsai in a speech after the announcement said Taiwan is facing a serious constitutional crisis, with power imbalances between the government’s branches.
Many legal and political challenges brought about by agencies involve constitutional issues that should be addressed by the court, he said.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was trying to return to the era when “justices and prosecutors were one family” by nominating a prosecutor as Judicial Yuan president.
He questioned whether the nominees would owe “loyalty” to the DPP, and whether they would be rejected if they criticize the party.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in a statement said its members would responsibly review the nominees from different perspectives to exercise their constitutional obligations.
The nominees should state whether they support the death penalty and favor imposing heavier penalties on those who are convicted of abusing children, it added.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that although he agreed that it is inappropriate to nominate a prosecutor as Judicial Yuan president, he believed Lai was prudent in nominating the candidates.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said it would be unfair to criticize the nominees when the required documents have not even been sent to the legislature, adding that the DPP respects the president’s authority in the matter.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao
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