KMT caucus charges Constitutional Court justices with malfeasance

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) legislative caucus on Saturday accused five Constitutional Court justices of abuse of power and malfeasance and vowed to file a criminal complaint.

The statement came after a Constitutional Court ruling on Friday declared amendments passed by opposition lawmakers last year, which mandated that the court could only strike down laws with the support of nine justices from a minimum quorum of 10, unconstitutional.

The KMT caucus said it will file complaints on Monday with both the Taipei District Court and the Taipei District Prosecutors Office against the five justices who took part in the deliberation of the case for "issuing an unlawful judgment."

Three other justices from the current eight-member court dissented and were not counted toward the total number of the justices presiding over the case, according to the court.

The caucus also said it will propose a motion at the Legislative Yuan to condemn the five justices and declare the Constitutional Court's ruling invalid, without specifying when.

On Friday, the Constitutional Court ruled that the legislative process behind the amendments contained "obvious and significant defects," violated due legislative procedure and breached the constitutional principle of separation of powers.