Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday threw his support behind the Central Taiwan Science Park Development Office’s decision that companies at its Phase 3 Zone be allowed to continue operating despite a court ruling demanding the suspension of development projects.
Wu rebutted criticisms that the government was setting a bad example by disobeying a court order and that this could result in a constitutional crisis.
Saying his decision was based on the Judicial Yuan’s Interpretation No. 589, which highlights the importance of the “principle of legitimate expectations,” Wu said this principle forms part of the fundamental law that governs the country.
“It would be a constitutional crisis if the principle of legitimate expectations was not upheld,” he said.
Interpretation No. 589 was issued by the Council of Grand Justices on Jan. 28, 2005, to settle a dispute on the constitutionality of Article 10 of the Act Governing the Recompense for the Discharge of Special Political Appointees (政務人員退職撫卹條例), which stipulates that political appointees with a defined term of office in independent institutions can only choose a lump sum pension instead of a monthly pension.
“After the promulgation and implementation of an administrative regulation, if the authority that instituted or promulgated the regulation amends or repeals the regulation according to legal procedure, it should also take into account the protection of the legitimate expectations of the regulated party,” the interpretation says.
“If the regulated party has apparently acted objectively in response to the facts constituting the legitimate reliance during the period of the implementation of the regulation, thus creating the basis of reliance, and the party has the benefit that is worthy of protection, the party should then be protected by the principle of legitimate expectation,” it says.
The Taipei High Administrative Court on July 30 ordered a halt to the expansion projects at the science park’s Phase 3 Zone in Taichung County’s Houli Township (后里), citing its failure to complete an environmental impact assessment.
AU Optronics has an 8th-generation (8G) fab operating at the site, and another 8G fab that is currently undergoing equipment installation. Sunner Solar Co has also begun operations.
The Environmental Protection Administration and the National Science Council, the administrative agencies that oversee development projects at the science park, on Monday filed an appeal against the ruling on Houli Township and another appeal against the ruling on the science park’s Phase 4 Zone in Changhua County’s Erlin Township (二林).
On Tuesday, the government agencies decided to suspend public infrastructure work at the site, but said the two firms in the Phase 3 Zone could continue operating.
Wu said the decision was also based on the general legal principle in which bona fide third parties — in this case, AU Optronics and Sunner Solar — should be exempt from court rulings.
This principle, which protects the operations of third parties from being suspended because of court rulings, supports the government’s decision, and should remove doubts that the decision might shake public confidence in the administration.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS