KMT lawmakers file complaint against Constitutional Court judges

Taipei, Dec. 22 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers on Monday filed a legal complaint accusing five Constitutional Court justices of rendering an "illegal ruling" to strike down reforms of the court it passed last year.

Speaking to reporters at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, the lawmakers said the five of the court's eight sitting justices who issued the ruling had violated the Criminal Code by doing so without the legal minimum number of judges.

Taiwan's Constitutional Court has been largely brought to a standstill since Jan. 25, 2025, when amendments passed by the opposition-controlled Legislature and promulgated by the President took effect requiring a minimum of 10 judges to hear a case and backing from nine judges to find a law unconstitutional.

That essentially immobilized the 15-seat court, which has only eight members left after seven completed their terms at the end of October 2024, and lawmakers blocked President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) nominations to replace them.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has argued that the KMT is purposely paralyzing the court to avoid scrutiny of its legal amendments, and filed a petition urging the Constitutional Court to strike down the court reforms.

The KMT, meanwhile, views the current court as politically biased, since all its members were appointed and confirmed when the presidency and Legislature were controlled by the DPP.

Last Friday, in its first ruling this year, the court struck down the opposition's amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, effectively clearing the way for it to resume hearings and rulings on cases.

The ruling -- which found that the amendments violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers and "obstructed" the judges from carrying out their duties -- was highly controversial. It was issued without holding oral arguments or a public hearing to announce the decision.

In addition, three of the court's sitting judges publicly denounced the ruling, arguing that the current impasse should be resolved politically, by appointing and confirming new judges to fill the vacancies.

Speaking to reporters from the prosecutors' office, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said the five justices had issued the ruling despite lacking the legal minimum of 10 judges to hear and rule on a case.

Even before the KMT's amendments, the law previously required that at least two-thirds of the sitting justices -- or six judges in the current court -- must take part in the deliberation of a case, Wang said, pointing out that the ruling was unlawful even by those standards.

Under Article 124 of the Criminal Code, public officials with judicial functions who render illegal decisions can face 1-7 years imprisonment, she said.

Path to resolution unclear

As of Monday afternoon, neither President Lai nor the opposition-controlled Legislature had broached a possible compromise on the appointment of new Constitutional Court justices.

Absent that, it remains unclear if the court will now try to resume a normal schedule of hearing cases and issuing rulings, potentially with only five of the eight sitting justices taking part.

If it does not, the standoff over the court could continue to create disfunction in other branches of Taiwan' government.

Last week, for example, the government took the unprecedented step of refusing to enforce amendments passed by the Legislature to increase tax revenue allocations to local governments. It argued the step was a necessary safeguard against a possibly unconstitutional law, given that the Constitutional Court is not functioning.

If the Constitutional Court does begin ruling on cases, the opposition-controlled Legislature could respond in a number of ways, including by stymieing the government's legislative agenda.

Last Friday, the KMT and smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party threatened to impeach Lai over his failure to implement the revenue-sharing law.

However, such a measure would require support from at least two-thirds of lawmakers -- a near impossibility -- and would then need to be forwarded to the Constitutional Court.

Alternately, the Legislature could pass a motion of no confidence against Premier Cho, requiring him to step down. This would give Lai the option of dissolving the Legislature, and moving to hold new legislative elections within 60 days.