Not Recommended! Nominees Refuse Public Oversight; Legislative Yuan Must Not Rush the Confirmation Process! Press Conference by the Alliance for Citizen Monitoring of Grand Justices

Composed of 13 civil society organizations, the Alliance for Citizen Monitoring of Grand Justices (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance) held a press conference today (the 25th) at Room 102 of the Chung-Hsing Building, Legislative Yuan. Because this term's Grand Justice nominees failed to respond to the Alliance's questionnaire and personal background survey, thereby refusing public oversight, the Alliance announced it will not recommend any of them. The Alliance calls upon the nominees to explicitly state their positions during the Legislative Yuan's review process. Furthermore, the Alliance urges the Legislative Yuan to take seriously the opinions of experts and scholars from the public hearings, revise the hasty and sloppy review schedule, and strictly vet the nominees' suitability.

During the second meeting of the extraordinary session of the 7th Legislative Yuan, a public hearing on the Grand Justices was held on June 24. Plenary reviews are scheduled from June 25 to June 26: reviewing Yang Hui-chin, judge and president of the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court, and Tsai Tsung-zhen, Minister of Examination, on June 25; and Hsieh Ming-yang, professor at the National Taiwan University College of Law, and Lu Tai-lang, Secretary-General of the Judicial Yuan, on June 26. The consent vote will be held on June 27 to ensure a smooth transition for the Grand Justices whose terms expire on September 30. Given that Grand Justices serve as guardians of the constitutional order and bear heavily upon the future well-being of the people of our country, the Alliance issues the following statement:

1. All Grand Justice Nominees Failed to Respond to the Questionnaire and Personal Background Survey—An Unprecedented Occurrence

   Looking back at 2016, among the seven Grand Justice nominees nominated by President Tsai Ing-wen, six responded to the questionnaire issued by the Alliance. However, regarding the four nominees nominated this year, the Alliance sent out the questionnaires and personal background surveys on June 6 with a call for responses, and issued a statement on June 20 reiterating the call to reply before the Legislative Yuan's deliberations. To date, none have responded, leaving the outside world unable to understand the nominees' views on critical constitutional issues. This marks the first time since the Alliance began sending questionnaires and personal background surveys to nominees in 2015 that all Grand Justice nominees have failed to respond, and the Alliance hereby lodges a solemn protest.

   The Alliance questions whether nominees who fail to respond to its questionnaire will be capable of acting as guardians of the Constitution regarding the constitutional controversies raised in the questionnaire during their eight-year term, should they successfully assume office. This raises public concern, leading the Alliance to resolve not to recommend any of the four Grand Justice nominees.

   The Alliance calls upon the Grand Justice nominees to explicitly state their positions during the individual plenary reviews held on June 25 and June 26. Allowing legislators and the general public to examine them is essential to ensuring that the development of constitutional human rights reaches new milestones over the next eight years of their term.

   In addition, the Alliance will, per tradition, publish previously collected questionnaire banks and provide them to legislators for questioning, expecting legislators to urge Grand Justice nominees to clearly state their positions on key constitutional issues during the review.

2. Urging the Legislative Yuan to Hold Hearings, Produce a Review Report, and Postpone the Plenary Vote Schedule

   During the Legislative Yuan public hearing on June 24, many experts and scholars nominated by party caucuses expressed disagreement with the scheduling of the current legislative review, with some legislators pointing out that this is the shortest review period in history, demonstrating the hasty and sloppy nature of the Legislative Yuan's procedures.

   The Alliance believes that the Legislative Yuan should respect external voices and prevent public hearings from becoming mere formalities. It should re-examine the opinions raised by experts and scholars at the public hearings, formulate more rigorous review schedules and procedures—such as holding another public hearing or briefing based on the experts' and scholars' opinions, or adopting the Alliance's suggestion to hold hearings that require nominees to attend and answer questions from scholars and experts—to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the review.

   The Alliance calls for sufficient time to be given to the legislators on the Legislative Yuan review committee to compile the opinions of experts and scholars and the nominees' responses during individual legislative reviews into a review report. This report should be provided to all legislators, and the vote should be held during the 8th session beginning in September. If difficulties arise, the vote should at least be postponed until the final day of the extraordinary session on July 5.

3. Amending the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan's Power is the Proper Path to Establishing Rigorous Review

   Finally, the Alliance emphasizes that democracy and the rule of law are hard-won. Yet, in contemporary society, the manipulation of public opinion and the trampling of human rights are gradually eroding the foundations of our constitutional system. Facing such severe challenges, sitting Grand Justices have repeatedly withstood immense pressure amidst critical constitutional controversies to issue numerous epoch-making interpretations, leaving an iconic mark on constitutional history. The Alliance sincerely hopes that the Legislative Yuan will amend the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan's Power to make rigorous Grand Justice review procedures the norm. Only by establishing strict standards can substantive reviews be conducted through clear mechanisms in a democratic society undergoing party rotation, thereby selecting truly suitable Grand Justice candidates.

Attending Representatives

Lo Shih-hsiang / Executive Director, Taiwan Association for Innocence
Li Yueh-hui / Secretary-General, Taiwan Forever Association
Ch'en Yen-huan / Staff Attorney, Judicial Reform Foundation

Alliance Members

The Nü-Shih Chu
Taipei Bar Association
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Citizen Congress Watch
Taiwan Association for Innocence
Taiwan Forever Association
Taiwan Awakening Foundation
Judicial Reform Foundation
Taiwan Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
New Bloom Foundation
Citizen Jury Association
Environmental Jurists Association
Garden of Hope Foundation

Press Contact

Judicial Reform Foundation / Attorney Ch'en Yen-huan (02)2523-1178