In Taiwan, civic organizations protest proposed changes to constitutional court

Judicial Reform Foundation members and a group of civic organizations yesterday announced they would hold a rally on Friday demanding that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) withdraw proposals to amend the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法). KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) has proposed specifying that the Constitutional Court must consist of 15 justices and that a two-thirds majority would be needed to issue a ruling. The groups accused Weng and the KMT of using political ploys to destroy Taiwan’s constitutional democracy, abusing legislative authority to undermine the proper functioning of the judiciary and denying citizens their right to request a constitutional interpretation. They also said the proposal to raise the threshold was a major retrogression for the judicial reform movement and that paralyzing the Constitutional Court would create a constitutional crisis and lead to the dismantling of Taiwan’s democratic framework.
Read the full article here: Taipei Times