2020年憲法發展回顧

Developments in the Law in 2020: Constitutional Law

本文從憲法解釋、重要立法和重要事件等3個面向出發，回顧並整理2020年的憲政發展。就憲法解釋而言，司法院大法官在2020年共作成12號解釋，本文首先通過統計數據，呈現憲法解釋的整體發展趨勢，並從中選擇司法院釋字第791（通姦罪及撤回告訴之效力案）、793（黨產條例案）、794（限制菸品業者顯名贊助活動案）、799（性犯罪者刑後強制治療案）號解釋，以及109年度憲一字第5號不受理決議進行簡要分析。在立法方面，2020年修正了《公務員懲戒法》，並施行《監獄行刑法》和《羈押法》。最後，本文也分別針對COVID-19疫情、中天新聞台不予換照、南鐵黃家拆遷案、高雄市市長罷免案、來臺港人人道援助方案、監察院國家人權委員會成立、肉品萊克多巴胺零檢出，以及地方限煤自治條例等重要憲政事件進行簡扼分析。

This article gives an overview of the development of Taiwan’s constitutional law in 2020 from three different aspects: constitutional interpretations, important legislations, and key events of constitutional importance. First, this article uses statistical data to examine the trend of constitutional interpretations development in 2020, including the number of cases taken, interpretations made, number of opinions, and the constitutional rights involved. Then, among the 12 decisions the Constitutional Court made in 2020, this article discusses Judicial Yuan (J.Y.) Interpretations No. 791 (involving the illegality and voluntary dismissal in litigation of adultery), 793 (regarding the Act Governing the Settlement of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations, or namely, the constitutionality of transitional justice), 794 (examining freedom of speech issues rising from the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act), 799 (ruling on compulsory treatment for sexual assault crime offenders) and Dismissal 109 Constitutional 1 No.5 (declining to rule on Control Yuan appointment dispute between parties in the Legislative Yuan). As for legislations, the Legislative Yuan passed/amended three important acts: the Civil Service Discipline Act, the Prison Act and the Detention Act. All three amendments were in response to Constitutional interpretations previously made by the Judicial Yuan Justices. The Civil Service Discipline Act was the final step in revamping the litigation process for civil servants, while the latter two marked an important milestone in the protection of basic human rights of detainees. In addition to these mentioned advancements, significant controversies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitics in Taiwan will also be analyzed briefly. These include governmental actions for COVID-19 pandemic, license revocation of CTi News, the controversy of demolishing Huang’s house in Tainan, the recall of the Kaoshiung City mayor, humanitarian aid for Hong Kong political asylum-seekers, the establishment of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission, the conflict between the local and central government on the issues of Ractopamine residual in pork and carbon emission restrictions.