2017 Global Review of Constitutional Law: Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan’s constitutional development moves in a new direction in 2018 following the 2017 statutory easing of the thresholds for citizens’ initiatives. The election in November 2018, in the form of a citizen-initiated referendum, redrew the political landscape and rocked the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to the core. More importantly, it has shaken the foundations of the existing constitutional arrangement, reshaping the relationship between the people and the government. As the initiatives intended to curtail Interpretation No. 748 on same-sex marriage illustrate, the Taiwan Constitutional Court (TCC) is arriving at a crossroads amid the rise of popular constitutionalism and referendum politics. Even so, 2018 was not to be defined exclusively by the theme of change. Against the backdrop of the popular force of referendum politics, it featured the TCC’s institutional continuity, as manifested in not only its run-of-the-mill constitutional interpretations concerning fundamental rights and local government but also its fuller life as envisioned in the transformative Constitutional Court Procedure Act (CCPA). As will become clear, this institutional reform is historic in that the TCC is expected to be brought closer to the people with the CCPA’s coming into force in early 2022 in the face of rising popular constitutionalism.