The Judicial Yuan () is the judicial branch of the Republic of China, which previously ruled the mainland and now controls Taiwan.See Constitution arts. 77-82, available at See Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, available at It functions as the Constitutional Court and oversees the courts of Taiwan, including the ordinary courts such as the Supreme Court, high courts, and district courts as well as special courts like administrative, and disciplinary courts. The Judicial Yuan holds the following powers:See Introduction to the Judicial Yuan, available at Interpretation – Acting as the Constitutional Court to interpret the Constitution and other statutes and regulations made by the central or local government. Adjudication – Most civil, criminal, and administrative cases are adjudicated by the respective courts supervised by the Judicial Yuan. The Constitutional Court adjudicate presidential impeachment and political party dissolution cases. Discipline – Disciplinary measures with respect to public functionaries are adjudicated by the Disciplinary court. Judicial Administration – The Judicial Yuan supervises administrative affairs of all courts established by Taiwanese law.
According to the current Constitution, the Constitutional Court consists of fifteen justices. One justice acts as the president of the court, and another acts as the vice president. All justices, including the president and vice president, are appointed by the president of the Republic with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. Upon appointment justices have a term limit of eight years, but this term limit does not apply to the president and vice president.
Constitutional Court History Before the 1980s, the impact of the Constitutional Court was limited by authoritarian governance. The Court could be seen as an instrument of the Kuomintang regime. It never accepted a case on the constitutionality of the Temporary Provisions, which were the basis of authoritarian rule; The Court declined to hear challenges to these Provisions, and issued a number of decisions that facilitated Kuomintang rule within the confines of at least nominal constitutionalism. For the most part, the court served as a legal advisor to the government, rendering decisions that unified interpretations of statutes or ordinances or providing legitimacy for these politically expedient solutions as a result of extension of legislative representatives' terms. In Interpretation No 31 of 1954, the court extended the legislative representatives' terms, ruling that 'the nation was under crisis and the country could not hold the election for the second term legally'. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Constitutional Court further affirmed the constitutionality of adding extra seats to both the Legislative Yuan and the National Assembly by means of legislative enactments in Interpretation Nos 117 and 150.
Prior to the 1980s, the Constitutional Court rarely asserted itself as the guardian of the Constitution; on rare occasions, however, the court nevertheless risked undermining its own institutional authority by standing in opposition to other branches of government. In Interpretation No 86 of 1960, the court held that the law that allowed the Ministry of Justice to supervise the lower courts was inconsistent with the constitution and required all courts to be placed under the Judicial Yuan. However, this decision was ignored by the government, and the impugned law was not revised until 1980.
After the succession of Lee Teng-hui as president in 1987, however, the Court gradually became more active. It began to strike administrative actions that were vague or delegated too much power to the executive branch. Amongst its decisions, the Court ended the ban on rallies advocating secessionism or communism as a violation of free speech, allowed universities to refuse to allow military "counselors", whose presence in dorms had formerly been mandatory, and allowed teachers to form a union outside the "official" union structure. Constitutional amendments in 1992 provided for the Court to hear challenges against "unconstitutional" political parties, defined as those whose "goals or activities jeopardize the existence of the ROC or a free democratic constitutional order."
Amidst the divided government between 2000 and 2008, the Constitutional Court became a primary political mediator of highly charged political disputes; it adopted a 'dialectic approach' in facilitation of political dialogues. For example, in a constitutional dispute concerning the suspension of the construction of a nuclear power plant, the Court held that the Democratic Progressive Party-led Executive Yuan should negotiate with the Kuomintang-dominated Legislative Yuan to resolve the issue. The unity of the executive and legislative branches since 2008 has seen a decline in the number of politically high-profile cases entering into the Constitutional Court's docket. At the same time, the number of individuals' petitions challenging legislative or executive acts on grounds of violation of constitutional rights continued to rise steadily, and the Constitutional Court has responded to these rights challenges with a high number of declarations of unconstitutionality.
Functions
The Constitutional Court (), also previously known as the Council of Grand Justices (), provides rulings on the following six categories of cases: Constitutionality of laws and constitutional complaints (Chapter III cases); Disputes between constitutional organs (Chapter IV cases); Impeachment of the President and the Vice President (Chapter V cases); Dissolution of unconstitutional political parties (Chapter VI cases); Local self-government (Chapter VII cases); and Uniform interpretation of statutes and regulations (Chapter VIII cases).
A petition to declare regulations or laws unconstitutional (Chapter III cases) shall be filed in the following circumstances: A highest state organ which, in the exercise of its powers or on account of its subordinate agency's exercise of powers, considers that the applicable law is in contravention of the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the impugned law unconstitutional. A subordinate agency which, in the exercise of its powers, considers that the applicable law is in contravention of the Constitution may request its superior agency to lodge the petition; A quarter or more of the incumbent Legislators who, in the exercise of their powers, believe that the relevant statutory law is in contravention of the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the impugned statutory law unconstitutional; A court which strongly believes, on reasonable grounds, that an applicable statutory law on whose validity depends the court's decision of a pending case is in contravention of the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the impugned applicable law unconstitutional; or After exhaustion of all ordinary judicial remedies, any person who believes that a final court decision that finds against her or him or a legal provision applied in such a court decision contravenes the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the decision or the impugned legal provision unconstitutional.
Justices There are in total of 15 justices () serving in the Constitutional Court, current members include: President and Chief JusticeVice President and JusticeShieh Ming-yanVacantJusticesTerm from 2019 to 2027Term from 2019 to 2027Lu Tai-langShieh Ming-yanTsai Tzung-jenYang Hui-chinJudy JuTsai-Chen TsaiChen Chung-wuGreg YoJu Fu-Meei
Important decisions Important decisions of the Constitutional Court are listed as the following.
Interpretations made before the Constitutional Court Procedure Act No.DateSummaryRef1Jan 6, 1949Legislative Yuan members shall not hold positions in executive government concurrently.31Jan 29, 1954Extended term of the first Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan indefinitely until the next elections in China. 76May 3, 1957The issue of the tricameral parliament of China: National Assembly, Control Yuan and Legislative Yuan86Aug 15, 1960All high courts and district courts shall be organizationally placed under the Judicial Yuan99Dec 19, 1962The New Taiwan Dollar shall be the national fiat money, not local currency, and the Central Bank entrusted the issuance.261Jun 21, 1990Term of the first National Assembly, Legislative Yuan, and Control Yuan shall be terminated by December 31, 1991.This interpretation resulted in the total re-election of the National Assembly in 1991 and the Legislative Yuan in 1992.This interpretation also opened the subsequent legislative elections in Taiwan.328Nov 11, 1993Coverage of the national territory shall not be interpreted by the Constitutional Court.365Sep 23, 1994Judged the jus sanguinis principle in the Taiwanese nationality law shall apply to both mother and father.499Mar 24, 2000Voided the 5th amendment of the Additional Articles of the Constitution644Jun 20, 2008Judged the ban of "advocate Communism or secession" in the Civil Associations Act as unconstitutional.748May 24, 2017Judged the statutory ban on same-sex marriage in the Taiwanese Civil Code as unconstitutional.The government shall take motion to legalize same-sex marriage in Taiwan.791May 29, 2020Judged the criminalization of adultery as unconstitutional.
Interpretation No. 31 In 1954, the Council of Grand Justices extended the terms of members of the Legislative Yuan and the Control Yuan elected in 1948, ruling that:
As a result of the council's ruling, first-term members of the Legislative and Control Yuans continued to serve for the next four decades until 1992, resulting in distortions of representation. Following the death of some of those representatives, the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion were amended to allow vacancies to be filled by holding supplementary elections or by adding more seats for representatives elected locally in Taiwan.
Interpretation No. 261 The Council of Grand Justices issued interpretation No. 261 on June 21, 1990. The Council of Grand Justices ruled on the constitutionality of the continued sitting in the National Assembly of members elected on the mainland in 1948 and ordered that:
The court further required the government to hold a nationwide second-term election of the national representatives including a certain number of representatives-at-large for the proper functioning of the constitutional system.
Interpretation No. 499 The Constitutional Court, in voiding the 5th amendment of the Additional Articles of the Constitution, developed criteria by which the constitutionality of a constitutional amendment should be judged: a constitutional amendment must be enacted in accordance with constitutional due process; and since a constitutional amendment is enacted on the basis of powers bestowed by the constitution, it cannot alter ‘the existing constitutional provisions of essential significance, such as the principle of the democratic republic, the principle of sovereignty of and by the people, the core contents of fundamental rights of people, and the principle of checks and balances of governmental powers.’
Judgements made after the Constitutional Court Procedure Act No.DateSummaryRefJudgement 2, 111Feb 25, 2022"Reasonable Compensation" stated in Paragraph 1, Article 195 of the Civil code does not include compulsory apology ordered by a judicial court.
Ordinary courts Supreme court
The Supreme Court () is the court of last resort for civil and criminal cases. A civil case can be appealed to the Supreme Court only when more than NT $1,500,000 is at stake. Except for petty offences enumerated in Article 376 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, any criminal case may be appealed to the Court.