The Constitutional Court would not rule on a case regarding the constitutionality of the death penalty later this month as originally planned, the Judicial Yuan said yesterday.
The court has postponed the case, according to a news release from the Judicial Yuan, which did not provide a reason, saying only that the date for the judgement would be announced later.
The announcement means that the court will not rule on the case — which was brought by 37 death-row convicts — before July 22, as required by law, but would instead do so before Sept. 22 due to an exception, a Judicial Yuan spokesperson told reporters.
Photo: CNA
Article 26 of the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) stipulates that the court should render a judgement within three months after the conclusion of oral arguments, but this deadline can be pushed back by two months if necessary.
The court heard oral arguments on the case on April 23, when attorneys representing the 37 prisoners challenged the constitutionality of capital punishment codified in the Criminal Code and other laws.
Whether Taiwan should abolish the death penalty has been a topic of intense debate and some advocating the current practice, including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus, argue that the issue should be left to the discretion of the legislature instead of the Constitutional Court.
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