| 10.15.2004 The China Post (Taiwan) Grand Justices end 1st hearing on injunction 2004/10/15, The China Post staff The constitutional court yesterday ended its first hearing with heated debate on whether an inquiry ordered by the parliament into the mysterious election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian violates the Constitution. Thirteen members of the Council of Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan jointly held the hearing on a petition for a temporary injunction to stop the formation of the Truth Investigation Commission as ratified by lawmakers. Only Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng and Vice President Cheng Chung-mo declined to attend the session on grounds of a possible conflict of interest. Weng was President Chen's teacher while Cheng was allegedly to have called independent lawmaker Su Ying-gue to lobby him to vote against the statute allowing the formation of the investigation. The petition for the constitutional court ruling, the first of its kind in seven years, was jointly filed by the "pan-green alliance" of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union, which has also requested a constitutional interpretation on the opposition-backed statute, which they consider to be unconstitutional. The opposition dominated Legislative Yuan passed a bill in September to set up an independent inquiry � separate from the official government investigation � into the March 19 shooting, which the opposition says may have been staged to win sympathy votes. Chen's abdomen was grazed by a gunshot and Vice President Annette Lu was hurt slightly in the leg as they campaigned in the same open jeep in Chen's power base, Tainan City. Chen won re-election by a mere 0.2 percent margin the following day. President Chen vowed repeatedly to find the truth behind the mysterious shooting. But he called the powers of the truth panel "lawless", saying it usurped investigative powers usually reserved for prosecutors. The Cabinet � the executive branch of the government, and the DPP also mounted a concerted effort to derail the probe. The opposition camp also charged that the Judicial Yuan's rare action of skipping other more vital cases to take hasty action and move up the schedule for this hearing was due to political influence. Yesterday's debate � the first of the three to resolve the dispute � focused on whether the court should order a temporary injunction on the Truth Investigation Committee to freeze the bill and suspend the committee. Please see GRAND on page "The bill not only seriously violates human rights, but also violates the constitutional principle of the division of powers, leaving the constitutional order on the verge of collapse," DPP lawmaker You Ching told the 13 grand judges. "It is clear the bill will bring great damage to the well-being of the people and an injunction should be granted," You told the heavily guarded court. Members of the truth committee said the judges had no right to order an injunction before they rule whether the bill is unconstitutional. "They say the bill has created a constitutional monster. But as far as we are concerned, it is just a newborn baby with a birth mark on its beautiful face," said Wang Ching-feng, a committee member said, referring to any defects in the bill. "We will not call our baby a monster," said Wang, a noted lawyer who was the first female vice presidential candidate in Taiwan. Other committee members said a court injunction was unnecessary because government agencies had already castrated its functions by refusing to lend any support, including funding the operations of the body and cooperating in the investigation as stipulated by the law. While the committee set up by the Legislature was aimed at conducting a non-partisan investigation independent from police and public prosecutors, the DPP and their allies have boycotted its operations by refusing to nominate members to the panel. The official government investigation, run by district prosecutors in the southern city of Tainan where the shooting occurred, has found no suspects after more than seven months. Taiwan police made their first breakthrough last month, charging three men with possession of bullets that investigators say were manufactured in the same underground gun factory as those used in Chen's shooting. However, the three have only been charged with illegal possession of weapons. Two more debates are scheduled for Oct. 27 and 29. When the Council of Grand Justices decided to take hasty action on the issue, it must pass down a verdict within a period of two months. Legislator Su of an alliance of independent lawmakers said he plans to expose more revelations on those who had attempted to sway his vote in the Legislature if the Grand Justices make a hasty but inappropriate constitutional interpretation. Su said one more Grand Justice, who had contacted him to lobby for his ballot on behalf of the government, was sitting at the hearing yesterday. |
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