2023年憲法發展回顧

Developments in the Law in 2023: Constitutional Law

本文從憲法裁判、重要立法及重要事件等三個面向出發，回顧並整理2023年的憲政發展。本文首先透過歷年憲法解釋／判決、2023年收結案件、憲法判決聲請人及所涉議題的統計資料，呈現憲法裁判的整體發展趨勢，再綜合分析裁判程序與結果，包含言詞辯論的常態化、准許法院聲請釋憲後撤回、法律適用諭知和傍論的積極使用、裁判違憲時應發回之法院、意見書發表等觀察視角，最後擇要介紹憲法法庭在2023年作成的20件判決，並介紹若干重要不受理裁定。這些憲法裁判涉及諸多重大議題，包括女性祭祀公業派下員資格、黨職併公職年資、誹謗罪、搜索律師事務所、選舉幽靈人口、禁止醫師為醫療廣告等。在重要立法面向上，2023年修正憲法訴訟法第53條，且制定原住民族健康法第7條。前者調整憲法判決效力，後者要求設置原住民族健康資料庫，涉及人民的資訊隱私權保障，兩項立法均有重大憲法意義，後續發展誠值關注。至於重大憲政事件，本文則分別就國民法官法施行，及行政院停止適用「大陸地區人民為我國民」函釋，進行簡要介紹。

This Article gives an overview of the development of Taiwan’s constitutional law in 2023 from three different aspects: constitutional decisions, important legislations, and key events of constitutional importance. It first presents the overall trends of constitutional decisions by analyzing statistical data on historical constitutional interpretations and judgments from the past decade. Additionally, it provides data on new petitions, resolved cases, and the types of petitioners and issues involved in 2023. This Article then provides a detailed analysis of litigation procedures and outcomes, highlighting the normalization of oral arguments and the Constitutional Court’s permission for courts to withdraw petitions to declare laws unconstitutional. It discusses the active use of dicta and declarations regarding the application of statutory laws and briefly explains the process for determining the competent court to which a matter should be remanded when a decision is found unconstitutional. This Article also examines the overall characteristics of concurring and dissenting opinions.
This Article then selectively introduces several significant judgments and rulings made by the Taiwan Constitutional Court in 2023. These constitutional decisions address numerous vital issues, including the qualifications of female successors in ancestor worship guilds, the combination of years of service in the public sector and political organizations, defamation offenses, searches of law firms, punishment for voting with false residential registration, and the prohibition of medical advertisements by physicians.
In terms of significant legislation, 2023 saw the amendment of Article 53 of the Constitutional Court Procedure Act and the enactment of Article 7 of the Indigenous Peoples Health Act. The former adjusts the effect of constitutional judgments, while the latter mandates the establishment of a Health Database of Indigenous Peoples, impacting individuals’ information privacy rights. Both legislative changes carry significant constitutional implications, and their future developments are worth attention.
Regarding major constitutional events, this Article briefly introduces the implementation of the Citizen Judges Act and the Executive Yuan’s decision to cease the application of the interpretation that people of the mainland area are considered our nationals.