The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday panned a Legislative Yuan report published on Monday that suggested that lawmakers do not need to observe Constitutional Court judgements, calling on the opposition parties not to upset the separation of powers.
The report by the Organic Laws and Statutes Bureau said that constitutional judgements should not be elevated to the level of the Constitution, nor should they replace existing constitutional law.
In presenting the report, bureau head Kuo Ming-cheng (郭明政) said that under the current system, the Constitutional Court and the Legislative Yuan were “competing agencies with powers to legislate.”
Photo: CNA
As long as all branches of government maintain loyal to the Constitution, the separation of powers would work as intended and the people’s rights would remain protected, the report said.
The Legislative Yuan, as the embodiment of public will, should be empowered to correct any legislation instituted through Constitutional Court rulings, it said, citing how the court’s ruling on capital punishment went against public opinion.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) tapped Kuo to assume his current post last year.
Kuo, considered aligned with Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Chester Chou (周萬來), previously served in the legislature’s Secretariat and other committees.
Article 78 of the Constitution states that “the Judicial Yuan shall interpret the Constitution and shall have the power to unify the interpretation of laws and orders,” DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said, calling on all legislators to abide by the Constitution and do their duty.
Wu also cited Council of Grand Justices Interpretation No. 185, which states that “the Judicial Yuan is vested with the power to interpret the Constitution and provide uniform interpretations... The interpretations thus rendered shall be binding upon every institution and person in the country.”
Under Article 38 of the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法), “a judgement shall be binding on all the authorities and the people. Every authority should implement the judgement. The preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to an order on the merits by the Constitutional Court,” she added.
Wu further alleged that the legislature’s neutrality is being challenged, citing an alleged skew toward the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party by Han and Chou.
The report highlights how Taiwan’s democracy is being challenged and undermined, she said.
The opposition should not endeavor to expand the powers of the legislative branch, which has already been deemed illegal, she said.
Wu was referring to amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) last year, which the Constitutional Court ruled partially unconstitutional.
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