The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday it is filing malfeasance charges against the Constitutional Court and its five justices.
The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that opposition-backed amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year were unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers.
The Legislative Yuan in December last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 grand justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine grand justices must agree to declare a law unconstitutional.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The amendments brought the Constitutional Court, which usually has 15 justices, but currently only eight after seven stepped down on Oct. 31 last year at the end of their eight-year terms, to a standstill.
Opposition lawmakers twice rejected President William Lai’s (賴清德) grand justice nominees, first in December last year and again in July, and Lai has not nominated a new set of nominees since.
Friday’s ruling to revoke the amended act is controversial, with three of the court’s eight sitting justices publicly denouncing it.
The ruling was handed down with the support of the remaining five justices, who participated in discussions on the case without the oral arguments typically featured in high-stakes deliberations or a public hearing to announce the decision.
In response, the KMT said itwould formally propose a motion in the Legislative Yuan “to give the strongest condemnation to the outrageous actions of the five justices,” and to declare the ruling invalid in a bid “to safeguard the Constitution of the Republic of China and protect constitutional litigation laws.”
The KMT caucus said that even the original version of the act stipulated at least six justices are required to convene a session.
“The Constitutional Court session was therefore held illegally, and the ruling is, of course, illegal,” it added.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the TPP caucus fully supports the KMT’s move to file the malfeasance charges, adding that he thinks the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office would not take any action.
The five are no longer qualified to be called justices of the Constitutional Court, Huang said, describing them as “green judicial tyrants” and accusing them of contravening Article 124 of the Criminal Code regarding wrongful judgements.
“Now, Lai, the ‘Emperor Lai,’ has consolidated all powers in administration, judiciary, examination, and supervision, with no limits whatsoever,” Huang said.
Huang used the example of a US Supreme Court case on what happens if five out of the nine sitting justices recuse themselves, and the number of justices falls below the legal threshold of six.
The only option is to uphold the lower court’s judgement without conducting a substantive review, he said, adding that legal regulations should not be flexible, nor should they be adjusted based on specific cases.
“This is the principle of the rule of law and the ABCs of judging according to the law,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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