• By Lery Hiciano / Editor, with CNA

The Taiwan Bar Association announced a march on Saturday to protest proposed changes to the Constitutional Court Procedure Law (憲法訴訟法), after issuing a statement signed by 153 lawyers yesterday condemning the bill.

The amendment, submitted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), would raise the threshold for adopting a constitutional interpretation from a simple two-thirds majority of Constitutional Court judges.

In a statement released by the association yesterday, 153 lawyers said the bill risks harming Taiwan’s democratic foundations and could “paralyze” the court.

Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus today called on the KMT to withdraw the proposal.

Weng wants to use the power of the legislature to control the Constitutional Court, ensuring that people cannot seek redress and that the KMT can engage in any unconstitutional behavior, said DPP group secretary-general Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) . conference in the Legislative Assembly.

The bar has no political affiliation, Tsai added.

Weng told reporters this morning that the opinions of a few lawyers would not affect the amendment.

Of the 20,000 lawyers in the country, 153 is a relatively small number, she added.

DPP Group General Manager Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that when the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee met to review the new amendment, the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party sought to retaliate against the justice system rather than having a discussion.

Wu called on Legislative Assembly Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to refrain from supporting publicly controversial amendments to laws, including the Law on the Election and Removal of Officials (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Law Governing the Allocation of Government Income and Expenditure (財政).收支劃分法).