The Political Question Doctrine in Taiwan

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: Super Distinction, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, language: English, abstract: This thesis studies Judicial Yuan Interpretation No.328 [1993] – the first constitutional court decision specifically relating to the use of the political question doctrine in Taiwan. Taiwan’s constitutional court, on the whole, does not refuse to involve itself in political questions, but this case represented an opportunity for the Justices of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to introduce the political question doctrine into Taiwan’s legal system. The Judicial Yuan’s previous and subsequent judicial reviews included cases in which the constitutional court dismissed the authoritarian congress for democratisation or struck down an unconstitutional constitutional amendment. It is therefore doubtful that the Justices would claim to be unable to determine the political question in Judicial Yuan Interpretation No.328 [1993]. The court had by then become too powerful to persuade people that it should address the political question doctrine. The Justices applied the political question doctrine in this case only because they wished to avoid becoming mired in political controversy.