Grand justice nominee Remington Huang (黃瑞明) yesterday promised to recuse himself from the constitutional interpretation cases filed by his wife, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), and not to seek reappointment when his term ends amid growing public distrust of the judiciary.
Huang, an attorney at the law firm Baker and McKenzie, proposed changes to the judiciary to improve efficiency, diversify judicial appointments and introduce a lay judge system at a legislative review of the grand justice nominees.
Judicial reforms need to address the tendency of lawyers and prosecutors to launch unnecessary litigation; to recruit experienced lawyers as judges to prevent the appointment of so-called “dinosaur judges” that are out of touch with society; and ensure that local courts can conduct trials more thoroughly, he said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Huang expressed support for a variety of issues, including same-sex marriage, decriminalization of adultery, legalizing euthanasia, abolishing the death penalty and lowering the minimum voting age, but declined to answer questions involving political judgements, such as whether Taiwan is a “normal country,” whether the so-called “1992 consensus” is constitutional, whether a new Constitution is needed and whether it is unconstitutional for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to chair High-level Policy Coordination Meetings with the Cabinet, lawmakers and local government chiefs.
Amid controversy surrounding the nomination of former grand justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) as Judicial Yuan president, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) questioned whether Huang would accept reappointment after his term expires, as the law stipulates that grand justices cannot serve continuous terms, but does not specify if they can serve a second term.
“I can promise that I will not [seek reappointment]. This will be noted in the records,” Huang said.
He would be nearly 70 at the end of his term and would be unsuitable to assume the responsibilities, Huang said, adding that Hsu’s nomination is not unconstitutional.
In response to a question from KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) about whether he could remain impartial when handling petitions for constitutional interpretations lodged by Yu, Huang said he would recuse himself from cases submitted by Yu and his former clients.
However, Huang said there is no need to recuse himself from petitions seconded by Yu according to the law, because such petitions are collectively launched by lawmakers.
Chiang said that public trust of the judiciary can hardly be regained if Huang could not exercise the highest ethical standards and distance himself from cases involving his spouse.
Huang said that the constitutional right to equality and non-discrimination should be extended to same-sex couples, and the Civil Code could be inadequate in protecting the rights of homosexuals if it only recognizes heterosexual marriages.
“The Civil Code apparently only recognizes marriage as being between a man and a woman, which does not take the rights of homosexuals into consideration,” he said.
Amending the law is the best way to eliminate legal hurdles for same-sex couples while a constitutional interpretation is a viable alternative, he added.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
RSS