Opposition lawmakers yesterday voted against the Executive Yuan’s request to reconsider amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法), an expected outcome that thwarted the executive branch’s bid to overturn the bill.
In a revote yesterday, lawmakers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together form a majority in the legislature, again endorsed the new measures they pushed through last month.
The vote in the 113-seat legislature was 62-51 along partisan lines, with two independents joining the opposition parties.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The amendments mandate that a minimum of 10 Constitutional Court justices hear and rule on a case, and require that a ruling of unconstitutionality be supported by at least nine justices.
Currently, the Constitutional Court does not set a quorum for reviewing cases and allows rulings to be made by a simple majority vote.
Lawmakers yesterday debated the veto without inviting Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to the proceedings before holding an open ballot to decide if it was to be overridden.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus secretary-general Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said that Taiwan must have a functioning Constitutional Court to preserve the public’s right to protect themselves through legal remedies.
The amendments would require the Constitutional Court to have a quorum of 10 judges to hear a case and a supermajority of nine to rule against the constitutionality of a law or measure, Tsai said.
That would render the court virtually useless and contravene the powers the Constitution invested in the judiciary, he added.
KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that the DPP should stop opposing the amendments because a KMT-commissioned poll showed 56.7 percent of respondents were in favor of the changes.
TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said that a few Constitutional Court judges should not be allowed to decide the nation’s future and that the legislature was well within its rights to change the quorum.
In response to the vote outcome, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said later yesterday that the Executive Yuan would consider its next steps toward safeguarding the constitutional order after the legislature completes its vote on overriding the veto.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that her caucus is prepared to fight the amendments by measures up to and including asking the Constitutional Court to rule on their constitutionality.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said that President William Lai (賴清德) respects the decisions of the Executive Yuan and the DPP caucus, and would consider every legal recourse in defense of the nation’s democratic constitutional order.
The court has only eight justices — all appointed by the DPP — after seven completed their terms in October last year.
How any legal battle involving the Constitutional Court could proceed remains unclear.
Under normal procedures, the amendments would have to take effect — which would require them to be signed into law by the president — before the Constitutional Court could rule on their constitutionality.
However, if they have taken effect, the eight justices would not meet the threshold set and could not rule on the case.
The government could try again to add justices to the court.
Lai previously nominated seven candidates to replace the seven members whose terms ended on Oct. 31 last year, but all of them were rejected by the legislature last month.
Lai has yet to name new nominees.
Additional reporting by AFP, Chung Li-hua and Su Yung-yao
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS