Taipei [Taiwan], December 24 : The seven justice nominees proposed by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te to fill vacancies in Taiwan's Constitutional Court were all rejected by lawmakers on Tuesday, an expected outcome that could paralyse the court in the near future, as reported by Focus Taiwan.
According to Focus Taiwan, none of the nominees, including law professor Chang Wen-chen and former lawmaker Yao Li-ming (tapped for head and deputy head of the Judicial Yuan), received the required 57 votes in the 113-seat Legislature for approval.
A bloc of 52 lawmakers from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), along with two independent lawmakers aligned with the party, voted against all the president's nominees. This outcome followed the KMT's pledge to reject candidates they viewed as politically biased, especially Yao, who had led Lai's presidential campaign headquarters in 2024, Focus Taiwan reported.
The KMT's rejection also aligned with its strong opposition to the Constitutional Court's death penalty ruling in September, which the party claimed effectively abolished capital punishment in Taiwan.
Eight lawmakers from the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP), who often collaborate with the KMT, voted against six of the seven nominees, Focus Taiwan reported.
They did, however, support Liu Ching-yi, a National Taiwan University law professor. However, due to Liu's past critical remarks about the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), DPP lawmakers joined the KMT in rejecting her nomination.
While DPP lawmakers supported the remaining six nominees, their 51 votes were insufficient for confirmation. With recent amendments mandating a minimum of 10 justices to hear a case, Tuesday's votes have effectively stalled the Constitutional Court, which currently has only eight justiceswell below its usual 15-member capacity.
This is the first time in Taiwan's history, since the introduction of judicial interpretation in 1947, that the Constitutional Court has been left without a full roster of justices, as well as without a president or vice president.
In response, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo stated that while the office respected the Legislature's decision, it would initiate a renomination process, although no timeline was provided.
The rejection process has drawn criticism from civil society groups like the Judicial Reform Foundation, which accused certain lawmakersprimarily from the KMTof basing their decisions solely on nominees' positions on the death penalty. The group noted that, given the Constitutional Court's recent ruling on this matter, it was "unlikely" that the new justices would revisit this issue during their terms.
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