「改革」大纛下的勇敢「說法」？──「許宗力法院」第一年即展現司法積極主義

First Year of “Hsu Court” as Interpreter of the Constitution: Dawning of Taiwan's Judicial Activism?

現任大法官以兼任司法院院長的大法官許宗力為首席，自2016年11月至2017年8月底的10個月間，以明顯快於以往的速度完成多號解釋，就連議題選擇及作成解釋時機，也更加不避諱可能引發的政治社會爭議。本文分別從：誰？對哪些議題？關於憲法有怎麼個「說法」？又讓憲法如何「與時俱進」？四方面，回顧其近一年內所作解釋的「整體展現的見解與風格」。藉由比較稍早的「賴浩敏法院」在相當期間內所作解釋，本文發現：「許宗力法院」雖然也延續歷來大法官解釋風格，在對於人民聲請解釋案件上「有求必應」方面則轉趨積極；在引人側目的釋字第748號解釋上，「許宗力法院」甚至自承「懍於憲法職責」勉力作成解釋。

The Justices of the Constitutional Court headed by Chief Justice Hsu took over the authority of judicial review since November 2016. Till the end of August 2017 they have delivered 12 interpretations. Comparing to the Rai Court before it, this article argues that the Hsu Court rendered its decisions more frequent and its verdicts seemed closer to the people. It should be something more than coincidence that most justices nominated by President Tsai echoed some liberaltarian-styled proposals from legislators of the ruling party during the confirmation hearing. In its interpretation No. 748 upholding the freedom of same-sex marriage the Hsu Court even expressed its enthusiasm calling that “it is the constitutional duty of this Court to render a binding judicial decision, in time ... ”.