TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Taiwan grapples with a constitutional crisis between the legislative and executive branches, the Constitutional Court has entered the fray by attempting to invalidate amendments passed by the legislature that have paralyzed the court’s ability to function.

An incomplete bench of five Constitutional Court justices announced that the amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedures Act (CCPA), passed in late 2024, are unconstitutional and ineffective, reported UDN. The statement comes after months of debate over whether the court possesses the authority to conduct judicial reviews without a complete bench of 10 justices.

Opposition lawmakers of the KMT and TPP passed the controversial amendments to the CCPA, which the Lai administration promulgated in January 2025. There are currently only eight seats filled on the 15-seat bench because opposition lawmakers have refused to approve new justices nominated by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

The CCPA stipulates that 10 justices are required to reach quorum to hear cases of constitutionality, and that nine are required to make declarations on unconstitutionality. Five justices led by Judicial Yuan President Shieh Ming-yan (謝銘洋) made the declaration on Friday in an effort to recover the judicial power of the incomplete judicial body.

Three of the eight justices, Tsai Tzung-jen (蔡宗珍), Yang Hui-chin (楊惠欽), and Ju Fu-mei (朱富美), refused to endorse the court’s statement on the CCPA, stating that the court did not have the capacity to make legitimate rulings. The Constitutional Court attempt to reject the legal framework governing its activities will draw questions about the validity of Friday’s pronouncement on the legality of the CCPA.