Constitutional Court postpones death penalty ruling

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) — The Constitutional Court will not rule on a case on the constitutionality of the death penalty filed by 37 death row inmates later in July as originally planned, the Judicial Yuan, which oversees the court, said Friday.

According to a press release from the Judicial Yuan, the court has decided to extend the hearing. No reason was given for this, but it was stated that the date for the decision would be announced at a later date.

Friday’s announcement means the court will not make a decision in the case before July 22 as required by law, but before September 22, a Judicial Yuan spokesman later told CNA.

Article 26 of the Constitutional Court Act provides that the Court shall issue a decision within three months of the conclusion of the oral hearing; however, this period may be extended by two months if necessary.

On April 23, an oral hearing was held before the Constitutional Court in the death penalty case. Lawyers for the 37 people sentenced to death challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty, which is enshrined in Taiwan’s penal code and other laws.

The question of whether Taiwan should abolish the death penalty is the subject of heated social debate, and some supporters of the current practice, including the Kuomintang legislative faction, argue that the issue should be left to the discretion of the elected parliament rather than to the Constitutional Court.