ALIN Legislative News
From National Taiwan University College of Law
Amendments to Constitutional Court Procedure Act
On
December 20, 2024, the Legislative Yuan successfully passed the third reading
of the amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act.
Pursuant
to the provisions of the newly amended Act, matters concerning Constitutional
Judgments or Rulings on Temporary Measures shall require deliberation by a
minimum of 10 Grand Justices. Crucially, the threshold for issuing a
declaration of unconstitutionality has been set at no fewer than 9 Grand
Justices. The new Act was subsequently promulgated by the President and came
into force on January 23, 2025.
A
critical constitutional predicament has arisen from this legislative change:
While Article 5 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution stipulates that
the Judicial Yuan shall comprise 15 Grand Justices, 7 of these positions became
vacant following the lawful expiration of their terms on October 31, 2024.
Despite
the existing vacancies, the President's subsequent 2 rounds of nominations for
the Grand Justice positions have failed to secure the necessary confirmation
from the Legislative Yuan (Taiwan's
parliament).
Consequently,
with only 8 Grand Justices remaining in office, the stringent new thresholds
have led to the paralysis of the Constitutional Court. The Court has failed to
render any substantive judgment for over one year since the mass resignations.
Author: Assoc. Prof. Yi-Wen Chang
Topic: Grand Justice, Constitutional Court
Jurisdiction: Taiwan
Date: Nov. 11, 2025