All of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) nominations to the Council of Grand Justices are qualified, a civic evaluation committee said yesterday, although members of a civic watchdog group said a lack of information meant their approval would be withheld.
A review committee formed by the civic groups that comprise the Alliance for Civic Oversight of Supreme Court Justice Nominees gave all seven of Tsai’s nominees a passing score of at least seven out of 10, with Judicial Yuan president nominee and former grand justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) receiving the highest ranking.
Committee members — judges, academics and lawyers nominated by the alliance — assigned scores for character, personality traits, professional knowledge and knowledge of constitutional law and human rights.
The nominees for Judicial Yuan president and vice president were rated on their judicial reform policies, with a “pass” or “fail” grade assigned based on their average score.
Grand Justice nominee Chang Chiung-wen (張瓊文) received the lowest ranking, barely making the seven-point cut-off after receiving sub-par marks for professional knowledge and human rights, with the evaluation citing a lack of academic publications and civic activism.
Judicial Yuan vice presidential nominee Tsai Chung-tun (蔡炯燉) received sub-par marks for constitutional law and human rights, while Grand Justice nominee Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄) received a sub-par score for professional knowledge.
Taipei Society representative Chiou Wen-tsong (邱文聰) said that Tsai Chung-tun only passed because of strong marks for his judicial reform views, while adding that substantial information might have been left out of the evaluation process.
“Because we do not have all of the information, it is possible that we have not received some negative information on past actions, which might disqualify the nominees,” he said.
Other alliance members said that Chang and Grand Justice nominee Huang Chao-yuan (黃昭元) declined to return evaluation committee questionnaires.
“Unless there is a law in place requiring nominees to provide this information, there will be limits to even the best efforts of civil society,” Chiou said, adding that yesterday’s hearing at the Legislative Yuan was a meaningless formality.
“The nominees were not even required to attend, so there are huge questions over whether the hearings can provide substantive review,” he said.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said that Hsu’s response on the issue of homosexual marriage was “vague,” with Hsu's response leaving open the possibility that homosexual marriage should be rejected if it could be demonstrated that homosexuality was “abnormal.
The Awakening Foundation — a feminist group — declined to attend yesterday’s press conference to avoid giving the appearance of endorsing the nominees, he said.
The foundation released a statement criticizing Hsu, Tsai, Chang and Huang, saying they had not made clear their positions on “same-sex marriage and other gender issues.”
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS