The Constitutional Court in April is to hear oral arguments on whether the death penalty is constitutional, and a ruling is to be made in three months, with an extension of two months allowed if needed, it said on Thursday.
Thirty-seven death-row prisoners have filed a petition for a ruling on whether the death penalty is unconstitutional based on the principles of the right to life, human dignity and proportionality.
The Constitutional Court said that it would review a petition filed in 2022 by Wang Xin-fu (王信福), the oldest man on death row in Taiwan, along with related cases filed by death-row prisoners, in an oral argument session to be held from 10am to 4pm on April 23.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The arguments could center on two questions.
The first is whether the death penalty, a legally prescribed punishment, is constitutional.
The court said it wants to clarify whether, in addition to the right to life, the death penalty infringes upon other rights protected by the Constitution, such as the right not to be tortured or the right to human dignity; whether the pursued goals of the death penalty system are constitutional; and whether there are other means of punishment and supplementary measures available if the death penalty is deemed unconstitutional.
The second question is if the death penalty is determined to be constitutional, whether the court should limit the types of crimes that it can be applied to.
The court said it would also seek clarity on whether the crimes that the petitioners were sentenced to death for are still constitutional and why, and whether the scope of criminal death sentences should be limited, as Article 19 of the Criminal Code stipulates that an offense is not punishable if it is committed by a person who has a mental disorder or disability, and the punishment may be reduced as a result of their capacity for judgement.
Under the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法), the verdict should be pronounced within three months after an oral argument, and an extension of two months is allowed when necessary.
The cases originally included three other death-row prisoners, but they had died of illnesses in detention centers, so their cases would not be reviewed this time.
As Judicial Vice President Tsai Chiung-tun (蔡炯燉), Grand Justice Tsai Tsai-chen (蔡彩貞) and Grand Justice Greg Yo (尤伯祥) have participated in the trials of death-row prisoners, they would not participate in the hearing, the Constitutional Court said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS