Bill could close courts, TPP lawmaker says

STILL UNDER DEBATE:
The TPP caucus leader said the party must be unified and has not yet decided whether to support Vivian Huang’s opposition to the bill.

• By Jake Chung / Editor, with CNA

A draft amendment to the Constitutional Court Procedure Law (憲法訴訟法) proposed by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker could shut down the judiciary, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmaker wrote, Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) in an article published Monday. .

In the latest edition of the Chinese-language newspaper Contemporary Law Review (當代法律), Huang wrote that the amendment should not be passed in a hurry.

The bill, proposed by KMT lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) and which underwent preliminary review on October 18, would amend the Constitutional Court Procedure Law to clarify that “the number “Total number of serving judges” in the Constitutional Court is 15. stipulated in Article 5 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文).

In September, the legislature passed on second reading another amendment to the law, also proposed by Weng, which would require a two-thirds majority in the Constitutional Court to pass a decision. Currently, a simple majority is needed to issue a ruling, but the bill would require 10 justices to agree on a decision, which would be difficult to comply with if the Legislature does not ratify judicial nominees.

Huang wrote that the Constitutional Court has yet to issue decisions in which professional opinions were ignored and that it is unlikely that a decision would be made by only a few judges because others recused themselves.

The Constitutional Court falls under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Yuan, and lawmakers attempting to set the number of judges are going too far, which could essentially shut down the Court, as lawmakers could delay approval of judicial nominees , she wrote.

She urged the legislature to respect the separation of powers and entrust judicial affairs to the Judicial Yuan.

TPP caucus leader Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday that the party caucus has not yet decided whether to support Vivian Huang’s statements.

The group is following the instructions of TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to maintain the group’s solidarity, Huang Kuo-chang said.

The draft amendment is currently being considered in inter-caucus discussions, making the TPP’s position on the matter crucial, as the amendment would be subject to a floor vote if consensus is not reached. reached.

Huang Kuo-chang said Vivian Huang did not inform the TPP caucus that she had submitted the article to the newspaper.

Asked about the issue, Vivian Huang said yesterday that Weng was trying to set an official number of outgoing judges, which, combined with the KMT-led legislature’s blocking of Constitutional Court nominees, would make it difficult to pass decisions constitutional.

Given that more than 90 percent of petitions for a constitutional ruling were filed by members of the public, the proposed amendments would affect citizens’ rights, she said, adding that she would present the same arguments during the TPP caucus meeting.