TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Bar Association said on Monday (Nov. 11) that proposed legal amendments threaten to “effectively shut down the Constitutional Court” and should be rejected by legislators.

The bar association posted a statement on Facebook that said its members are worried about amendments seeking to raise the threshold for passing rulings in the Constitutional Court. 

The bill to amend the Constitutional Court Procedure Act was proposed by the KMT with support from the TPP and would require a two-thirds majority of Constitutional Court justices to pass a ruling.

The bar association said if the amendments are passed, at least 10 justices will be required to be present at Constitutional Court sessions and the same number must agree to make a ruling. It said this significantly raises the threshold for making constitutional judgments and threatens to prevent them from being made.

The association said this includes situations where there are not enough justices to meet the threshold. A shortage of justices may be caused by conflicts of interest or when the legislature fails to exercise its right of consent, it said.

The bar association said that while some foreign countries have set the minimum number of justices required for constitutional adjudication, they have also established mechanisms to prevent constitutional court shutdowns. The association said the proposed amendments do not outline necessary safeguards.

The bar association said the Constitutional Court has the core role of safeguarding citizens’ basic rights. It said if the Constitutional Court cannot operate, it will be difficult to effectively limit and oversee the use of power by the state.

“The Taiwan Bar Association calls on ruling and opposition party lawmakers not to pass this extremely inappropriate amendment proposal,” it said.

The proposed amendments were submitted to the legislature for review by KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) on Oct. 21. Weng said she proposed the amendments so that decisions made by the Constitutional Court would represent the opinions of a greater number of justices.

Before the amendments were reviewed, the judiciary recommended they not be passed. In a report to the legislature, the judiciary said justices of the Constitutional Court will be unable to exercise their powers in many situations if the amendments go through.