Elected legislators should not change the law to suit their own interests and take on the role of a court judge by conducting judicial investigations, legal experts said at the hearing held at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Wednesday.
Legislators have the power to enact laws, so they should not act as court judges since it would result in an overlap between legislative and judicial powers, attorney Chen Yu-hsin (陳又新) said.
“Seeking to expand power to have more resources and weapons for lawmakers to do their job is in the right direction. However, playing the role of a court judge would contravene our Constitution and the separation of powers between the five branches of government,” he added.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“When it comes to aiding in a judicial investigation, the case must directly be under the Legislative Yuan’s scope or related to scrutinizing activities of government departments,” said Carol Lin (林志潔), a professor in the school of technology law at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.
“If left unchecked, with no limits on their power of investigation, then unethical lawmakers would abuse it, using it for intimidation and extortion against private citizens and companies,” Lin said.
She said that under the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) proposal, lawmakers would have the power to investigate private citizens, businesses, foundation entities, religious institutions, hospitals, schools and other organizations, and lawmakers would have the legal authority to request to see financial statements, accounting reports, records of board meetings and internal documents.
“If they refuse to do so, then under the KMT’s proposal, they could be charged on with ‘contempt of the legislature,’” Lin said. “Most legal experts are against this stance, because in legal procedures, the defendant and witnesses have the right against ‘self-incrimination,’ when asked to provide a statement that might expose them to criminal prosecution.”
The Constitution is firmly set on the separation of powers between the five branches of government, where lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan have equal standing, in terms of power, to the Presidential Office and the Judicial Yuan; they must mutually respect the separation of powers and not have an overlap in the exercise of their power, which would lead to conflict, said Chang Hsien-chao (張顯超), a professor of law at National Sun Yat-sen University.
Lawmakers of the two main opposition parties, the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) are seeking to expand the power of the Legislative Yuan, to have the authority to conduct investigations and to hold legislative hearings.
They want to emulate the US system, giving the Legislative Yuan power akin to a US congressional hearing and the right to conduct an investigation, obtain information on proposed legislation, evaluate and scrutinize activities of government departments.
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