ALIN Legislative News
From National Taiwan
University College of Law
Amendments to Legislative Power
On June
24, 2024, the Legislative Yuan (Taiwan's parliament) amended and promulgated a
series of laws related to the powers of the National Assembly. The aim was to
strengthen the legislature's access to information and enhance its supervisory
role over the executive branch.
Key
amendments in the new laws included, but were not limited to: 1. Normalization
of Presidential State of the Nation Addresses: The President is now required to
address oral questions from Legislators immediately. 2. Recorded Voting for
Important Matters: Key votes are now conducted by recorded (name-based) voting.
3. Prohibiting Contempt of Congress: Individuals being questioned are
prohibited from counter-questioning, refusing or giving false replies, refusing
or concealing information, or engaging in other acts of contempt of Congress.
4. Codification of Congressional Investigative Power: New regulations governing
the exercise of Congressional Investigative Power were added, requiring
relevant individuals to provide necessary information. 5. Subpoena Power for
Hearing: Hearings may invite government personnel and socially relevant persons
to attend, express opinions, and testify. Those invited are obliged to attend
and provide testimony.
However,
on October 25, 2024, the Taiwan Constitutional Court delivered TCC-Judgment
113-Hsien-Pan-9 (2024), which declared certain provisions unconstitutional.
Examples of the Court's holdings include:
Presidential
State of the Nation Address Provisions: unconstitutional. The primary reason is
that the President is not responsible to the Legislative Yuan, and the
Legislative Yuan does not have the constitutional authority to directly hold
the President accountable.
Interpellation
(Questioning) Provisions: partially unconstitutional. The main reason is that
the scope of legislative power does not necessarily extend to areas protected
by Executive Privilege (such as national security matters) or information
involving other third parties.
Congressional
Investigative Power Provisions: partially unconstitutional. The primary
reasoning is that the Congressional Investigative Power serves only an
auxiliary function without an independent purpose. Its exercise must be
significantly related and necessary to a specific legislative bill or a
function within the Legislative Yuan's constitutional mandate.
Hearing
Provisions: partially unconstitutional. The main reason is that, in principle,
general citizens have no obligation to cooperate with the legislature in
exercising its powers, nor does the Legislative Yuan possess the authority to
directly regulate specific private citizens.
Overall,
this legislative amendment and the subsequent Constitutional Court Judgment
address the structure of the separation of powers in Taiwan and are of
significant constitutional importance.
Author: Assoc. Prof. Yi-Wen Chang
Topic: Legislative Power, Separation of
Power, Constitutional Court
Jurisdiction: Taiwan
Date: Nov. 11, 2025