The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that imposing a life sentence or the death penalty for people convicted of selling narcotics is partly unconstitutional.
The authorities have to implement legal amendments within two years to reflect the ruling.
The court reviewed Constitutional Interpretation No. 476 based on 54 complaints stating that Article 4 of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例) only offered polarizing choices and gave judges very little room to adjudicate, potentially contravening articles 7, 8 and 23 of the Constitution.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Article 4 states that offenders who manufacture, transport or sell Category 1 narcotics are subject to a death sentence or life imprisonment, and may also be fined up to NT$30 million (US$943,456).
As defined by the act, Category 1 narcotics include morphine, cocaine, heroin, opium and their derivative products.
The intent of lawmakers to use life sentences to deter narcotics trafficking and use is evident, but the law fails to consider situations in which the accused is not guilty of other legal contraventions, the offense was minor or the case merits clemency, the judges said in their ruling.
Even if judges invoke Article 59 of the Criminal Code to reduce a defendant’s sentence, the crime would not merit such a heavy sentence, the ruling said.
Article 4 of the act risks being too rigid and inflexible, and the authorities should review the legal sentences that would be appropriate if the crime does not befit the sentence.
The ruling suggested that the authorities introduce fixed-term imprisonment as an alternative ruling or base the prison terms on the amount of narcotics sold and how many times the defendant has been accused of selling the product.
Starting from the day of the ruling until the legal amendments have been completed, any ruling regarding the trafficking of Category 1 narcotics should not only invoke Article 59 of the Criminal Code, but also reduce the already-reduced sentence by half, the court said.
Five of the petitions had been filed by narcotics traffickers and they can demand that the prosecutor general file a petition for an extraordinary appeal, the court said.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS