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Dadparvar
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The Taiwan Constitutional Court ruled Friday that the 2024 amendment to the Constitutional Procedure Act is unconstitutional. The ruling allows the court to resume its operations after the amendment barred it for almost a year, as the number of sitting judges is not sufficient to constitute a quorum required by the amendment.
In the ruling, five judges contended that the legislative amendment, alongside the legislature’s refusal to affirm presidential appointments of judges, has effectively paralyzed the core function of the judiciary and eroded judicial independence. For a law to be declared unconstitutional, the 2024 amendment required that there must be at least 10 sitting judges at the court, with at least nine of them concurring with the decision. As the terms of seven judges ended on October 31, 2024, and the Island’s legislature refused to affirm presidential appointments, there remains only eight judges. The court has ceased its operation since then.
However, three judges refused to adjudicate the case and to endorse the legal effect of the ruling. In a separate unofficial opinion, these three judges reiterated that justices of the Constitutional Court must obey the constitution. They argued that the court had no power of adjudication if it did not have the legally required quorum. The leader of the Taiwan People’s Party, Huang Kuo-chang, similarly argued that even if the amendment was of no force, the original act still required two-thirds of the current judges to adjudicate, with a simple majority agreeing that the impugned law is unconstitutional. In other words, for a court to declare a law unconstitutional, it would require six judges to adjudicate the case under the original act. Rebutting this argument, the ruling reasoned that the three judges’ continuous refusal to adjudicate is no different than recusal under the original act and is not considered a sitting judge at the Constitutional Court.
The ruling also held that the amendment was passed with procedural improprieties. These include a massive change in the amendment on the day of second reading and the lack of a vote during the third reading. The ruling criticized these acts from the legislative majority as violating the principles of transparency and democratic accountability. This is not the first time the legislative majority has faced criticisms of violating procedural justice. In May 2024, the legislative majority’s refusal to negotiate drew 30,000 protesters outside the parliament against the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party.
As the Diplomat describes, Taiwan is witnessing a constitutional crisis since the ruling Democratic Progressive Party failed to secure a legislative majority in the 2024 election. Earlier this month, the Executive Premier Cho Jung-tai refused, with President Lai Ching-te’s endorsement, to sign into law the amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures. He similarly accused the legislative majority of attempting to violate the principles of separation of powers, transparency, procedural justice, and democratic accountability. In response, the legislative majority stated its intention to impeach both the president and the premier.
The post Taiwan Constitutional Court resumes operation amidst constitutive quorum controversies appeared first on JURIST - News.
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In the ruling, five judges contended that the legislative amendment, alongside the legislature’s refusal to affirm presidential appointments of judges, has effectively paralyzed the core function of the judiciary and eroded judicial independence. For a law to be declared unconstitutional, the 2024 amendment required that there must be at least 10 sitting judges at the court, with at least nine of them concurring with the decision. As the terms of seven judges ended on October 31, 2024, and the Island’s legislature refused to affirm presidential appointments, there remains only eight judges. The court has ceased its operation since then.
However, three judges refused to adjudicate the case and to endorse the legal effect of the ruling. In a separate unofficial opinion, these three judges reiterated that justices of the Constitutional Court must obey the constitution. They argued that the court had no power of adjudication if it did not have the legally required quorum. The leader of the Taiwan People’s Party, Huang Kuo-chang, similarly argued that even if the amendment was of no force, the original act still required two-thirds of the current judges to adjudicate, with a simple majority agreeing that the impugned law is unconstitutional. In other words, for a court to declare a law unconstitutional, it would require six judges to adjudicate the case under the original act. Rebutting this argument, the ruling reasoned that the three judges’ continuous refusal to adjudicate is no different than recusal under the original act and is not considered a sitting judge at the Constitutional Court.
The ruling also held that the amendment was passed with procedural improprieties. These include a massive change in the amendment on the day of second reading and the lack of a vote during the third reading. The ruling criticized these acts from the legislative majority as violating the principles of transparency and democratic accountability. This is not the first time the legislative majority has faced criticisms of violating procedural justice. In May 2024, the legislative majority’s refusal to negotiate drew 30,000 protesters outside the parliament against the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party.
As the Diplomat describes, Taiwan is witnessing a constitutional crisis since the ruling Democratic Progressive Party failed to secure a legislative majority in the 2024 election. Earlier this month, the Executive Premier Cho Jung-tai refused, with President Lai Ching-te’s endorsement, to sign into law the amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures. He similarly accused the legislative majority of attempting to violate the principles of separation of powers, transparency, procedural justice, and democratic accountability. In response, the legislative majority stated its intention to impeach both the president and the premier.
The post Taiwan Constitutional Court resumes operation amidst constitutive quorum controversies appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.