The 2021 Global Review of Constitutional Law: Taiwan

Abstract

Transition is the mark of the year 2021 for Taiwan’s constitutional development as three major institutional changes are still unfolding. First, the reform on the master-text of the Constitution continued with little progress in 2021, although the constitutional change will eventually culminate in a make-or-break moment in 2022. Secondly, politics of referendum and recall elections have been the center of political mobilization. On the one hand, four referendum proposals held in December 2021 were defeated in the face of the government fierce campaign. On the other, three recall elections backed by the main opposition party KMT were held in 2021, two of which succeeded in deposing a DPP city councilor and a Legislator of a DPP-allied small party respectively. Thirdly, paralleling constitutional development from without, the Taiwan Constitutional Court (TCC) sits on the cusp of transformative change in 2021. Anticipating the coming into effect of the 2019 Constitutional Court Procedure Act in January 2022, the TCC has not only instituted preparatory work to ensure a smooth transition to new procedures but also tried with new practice in its continuing rendering of 14 judicial interpretations in 2021.

Keywords: Taiwan, Taiwan Constitutional Courts; Constitutional Amendment, Politics of Referendum, Constitutional Court Procedure Act, Constitutional Law; Constitutional Politics; Comparative Law; Judicial Review; Judicial Politics