TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following a contentious struggle to take the rostrum on Friday, KMT and TPP lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法).
Under the revised law, passed by a show of hands in the afternoon, the Constitutional Court will only be permitted to review cases when two-thirds of its members, 10 of 15 justices, are present. When making rulings on constitutionality, nine justices are required to vote in agreement to make such a determination, reported CNA.
The DPP legislative caucus, civic groups, as well as the Taiwan Bar Association have heavily criticized the amendments, claiming they will effectively paralyze the court’s ability to function and rule on constitutional issues.
The new amendments, which have been the topic of heated discussion since the legislation’s first reading in October, come at an especially inopportune time for the Constitutional Court, which saw seven justices resign from office on Oct. 30.
The new amendments governing the Constitutional Court will effectively nullify the judicial body’s ability to function until lawmakers vote to seat at least two new justices. The new legislation is seen by some as retribution targeting the Constitutional Court, which in October quashed the KMT's attempt to expand the powers of the Legislative Yuan.
The amended Constitutional Court Procedure Act also stipulates that when justices recuse themselves from a case, if that number is more than seven, all remaining (eight) justices must be seated to hear the case. In such circumstances, rulings can be made binding if three-fourths of the seated justices are in agreement (six of eight).
When the number of seated justices is seven or fewer, the Constitutional Court will not be permitted to hear a case. Although a vote of nine justices will be required for rulings of constitutionality, only a simple majority vote is required to rule that a case is inadmissible.