Academics have expressed mixed views on President William Lai’s (賴清德) nomination of High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) as a Constitutional Court justice and the head of the nation’s top judicial body.
While prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including Judy Ju (朱富美), an incumbent, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, would be unprecedented.
Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂) said that Tsai’s nomination was an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the legislature, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party hold a combined majority, to reject it.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Tsai has only worked on cases at lower courts and his appointment would undermine the separation of judicial and prosecutorial powers, Lin said.
Tsai, 69, has served as a prosecutor for 29 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from National Taiwan University and a Master of Laws from the University of Washington.
Hu Po-yen (胡博硯), a professor of law at Soochow University, described Tsai’s selection as “unique,” but added that the Constitutional Court has been headed by lawyers, academics and politicians.
Besides interpreting laws with the other justices, the president of the Judicial Yuan has the additional responsibility of overseeing judicial administrative affairs, Hu said.
KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), a former prosecutor, said that attention should not be directed solely at Tsai’s prosecutorial background.
Instead, the focus should be on whether the nominee has a clear vision for judicial reform and can maintain impartiality while leading the top court, Wu said.
In addition to Tsai, the six other nominees are two Supreme Court judges, one senior prosecutor and three legal academics.
The legislature in December last year rejected Lai’s nominees, leaving the court with only eight justices after seven completed their terms on Oct. 31 last year.
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