The Constitutional Court today ruled that amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year are unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers.
The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 20 last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine justices must agree in order to declare a law unconstitutional.
The Executive Yuan on Jan. 2 requested that lawmakers reconsider the bill, but the Legislative Yuan rejected the motion under the combined forces of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party.
Photo: CNA
The Democratic Progressive Party caucus then filed for a constitutional interpretation of the bill, and the court accepted the case on May 14.
The Constitution stipulates that the Constitutional Court shall have 15 justices.
However, seven justices’ terms ended on Oct. 31 last year, leaving only eight justices.
The legislature has since refused to approve any nominees to fill the vacancies.
Five of the justices ruled the bill unconstitutional, publishing the ruling today in the court’s first judgement of this year.
The ruling said the bill’s legislative process contained clear and serious procedural flaws, contravening the Constitution’s requirements for due legislative process, and broke the principle of separation of powers.
However, the remaining three justices argued that the judgement is invalid, as according to the amendments — which were promulgated on Jan. 23 — the court must have 10 justices to deliberate, but there are currently only eight.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS