On the 17th, the Judicial Yuan held a press conference on the "First Anniversary of the Implementation of the New Constitutional Litigation System".

(Photo by reporter Wu Zhengfeng)

[Reporter Wu Zhengfeng/Taipei Report] The Constitutional Litigation Law is on the road in 2022, and the people are open to petition for constitutional review (to review whether the judgment of a case is unconstitutional). Xu Chenzhou, head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court, said on the 17th that the average number of cases accepted per month in 2022 will increase sharply to 364.3 cases, which is 7.3 times that of the old system, but the acceptance rate is only 1.16%, which is a sharp drop from 7.51% under the old system. The reason may be that many cases do not meet the statutory requirements and are ruled to be dismissed.

Xu Chenzhou and Judicial Yuan spokesman Zhang Yonghong held a press conference on the "First Anniversary of the Implementation of the New Constitutional Litigation System" on the 17th. Xu Chenzhou pointed out that the Constitutional Court received 4,371 new cases last year, with an average of 364.3 new cases per month. From 2021 to 2021, the benchmark is 7.3 times the average of 50 cases per month, 3,241 cases have been closed, and 1,517 cases have not been settled.

Among the types of cases, there were 4,277 cases of legal norms and adjudicative constitutional review, of which 4,252 were petitions from the people.

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In terms of the proportion of cases accepted, Xu Chenzhou explained that in 2022, a total of 3,241 cases will be concluded, 97.32% of which will be ruled not to be accepted, and 1.16% of cases will be accepted, showing a sharp drop compared to 7.51% under the old system (2011-2021).

According to Xu’s analysis, the reason for the decline may be that after the implementation of the new system, cases must meet procedural requirements, have constitutional importance, and the necessity to protect fundamental rights before they can be accepted; Specifically explain what constitutional doubts the case has, which will affect whether it is accepted or not.

In addition, the limited capacity of the Constitutional Court may also be a downside factor.

Xu Chenzhou said that during the 28-year old system from 1993 to 2021, there were 23 oral and verbal debates at the conference of justices. Among them, there are 8 judgments and oral arguments, a substantial increase.

The Constitutional Court will make 20 judgments in 2022, of which 13 are appeals from the people, 5 from courts, and 1 each from legislators and government agencies.

The threshold for unconstitutionality has been reduced from two-thirds of the justices in the old system to one-half, but Xu Chenzhou emphasized that the majority of the 20 judgments in 2022 will still receive more than two-thirds of the justices. support.

Xu Chenzhou pointed out that in the future, it will move towards clarifying the effectiveness of unconstitutional and invalid laws and regulations, and strengthening the participation in guarantee procedures.

Amending the Constitutional Procedure Law to reduce the impact on the stability of the law is in line with the problems faced by litigation practice.

Zhang Yonghong emphasized that the Judicial Yuan has drawn up a draft revision of some provisions of the Constitutional Procedure Law, and submitted a letter to the Legislative Yuan for review on August 19, 2022, in order to clarify the effectiveness of unconstitutional and invalid laws. , will be incorporated into the amendment and related sub-laws for reference, and continue to optimize the operation of the system.