The Legislative Yuan today rejected all seven grand justice nominees for the Constitutional Court, marking the second time lawmakers have rejected President William Lai’s (賴清德) picks.
Due to the combined majority held by the opposition parties, no nominee was able to pass the threshold of 57 votes to secure approval.
In the 113-seat legislature, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) holds a majority of 54 seats together with two independent lawmakers, while the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has eight seats.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has 51 seats.
The KMT and TPP caucuses both vowed to reject all the nominees ahead of the vote.
Grand justices should be the last line of defense of the judiciary, KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) told reporters before the session.
After Lai took office, grand justices have superseded the legislature and made rulings that went against standard practices in all developed countries in the world, Fu said.
Some KMT lawmakers had reportedly considered approving one nominee, but decided not to out of concern that they would “listen to the DPP.”
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) called the opposition parties’ decision a “political maneuver.”
The delay in confirming the appointment of grand justices has made it difficult for the Constitution Court to operate normally, Wu said.
The KMT and the TPP should clearly state their reasons if they oppose the nominations, Wu said.
The nominees were selected by Lai on March 21.
They include High Prosecutors’ Office chief prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) and Supreme Court judge Su Su-e (蘇素娥), who were nominated as president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan respectively, as well as grand justices.
Other nominees include Supreme Court judge Cheng Chun-hui (鄭純惠), High Prosecutors’ Office head prosecutor Lin Li-ying (林麗瑩), and law professors Hsiao Wen-sheng (蕭文生), Chen Tsi-yang (陳慈陽) and Chan Chen-jung (詹鎮榮).
Currently, only eight justices preside over the 15-seat court, after seven completed their terms at the end of October last year.
Justice Shieh Ming-yan (謝銘洋) is serving as the court's president.
Additional reporting by Liu Wan-lin
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