Observing that the retirement income of public functionaries was rather low, the Ministry of Civil Service released the Operational Guidelines Governing the Public Insurance pension payment amount preferential deposit to Retired Public Functionaries (hereafter the Operational Guidelines One) on December 17, 1974 (abolished on January 1, 2011, hereafter the disputed Operational Guidelines One). Hereafter, on July 1, 1995, the new pension system was implemented. The manner of calculating the pension fund was raised by an equal amount of the then current year. This led to some persons receiving monthly pensions from the old or new pension systems or even both at the same time. When the monthly income from the preferential deposit rate under the public insurance fund was added on, their monthly pension was higher than the monthly income of serving personnel of the same rank. This was manifestly unreasonable. As a result, on January 17, 2006, the Ministry of Civil Service amended Article 3-1 of the Operational Guidelines One (see the general information to legislative amendment of Article 3-1 of the Operational Guidelines Governing the Public Insurance pension payment amount preferential deposit to Retired Public Functionaries) whose Paragraphs 1-3 and Paragraphs 7-8, respectively, state “that the monthly income of retired public functionaries who are paid a monthly pension shall not exceed the upper limit of a proportion of the retirement income due to persons currently employed in a similar post and at a similar level. Calculation of the upper limit of this proportion is as follows: (1) For those whose years of service at retirement are determined to be 25 years or below, the upper limit is to be 85%; for those whose years of service at retirement are determined to be more than 25 years, for each additional year, the upper limit is to be increased by 1% with a maximum of up to 95%. For those who have completed six months but not yet one year, the rate is to be calculated as one year. (2) For part-time employees of grade 12 and above, or its equivalent, who have a post of administrative leadership as set out in the regulations of the Civil Service Pay Act, whose years of service at retirement are determined to be 25 years or below, the upper limit is to be 75%; for those whose years of service at retirement are determined to be more than 25 years, for each additional year, the upper limit is to be increased by 0.5% up to maximum of 80%. For those who have completed six months but not yet one year, the rate is to be calculated as one year. But those who choose to calculate the bonus due to executive appointments according to Article 6, Paragraph 2, Subparagraph 2, Item 2 of the Operational Guidelines One should calculate the upper limit of the percentage of retirement in accordance with the preceding paragraph. “The monthly retirement pension of persons referred to in the above Article, whose monthly retirement income exceeds the upper limit of the percentage of retired income, under the premise that retirement income under the Civil Service Retirement Act is not altered, may deduct the sum deposited in the preferential deposit program so as not to exceed the upper limit of the percentage of retirement income.” “When the sum of the preferential deposit calculated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article is higher than the amount of the retirement income calculated in accordance with Article 2 and Article 3 of the Operational Guidelines One, the preferential deposit should be handled according to the latter, lower sum.” “The Operational Guidelines One regulated that a public functionary who retires before the enforcement of the Operational Guidelines One and whose preferential deposit expired after the enforcement of the Operational Guidelines One shall verify the stipend depending on the last position he/she held and on approval by the service agency he/she last worked in according to Subparagraph 2 of the preceding Paragraph. Beside the technical and professional additional pay calculated by the limits set out in Subparagraph 2, Item 2 of the preceding Paragraph, the monthly retirement income and emoluments offered to current employees of the same rank shall be calculated according to the standards of basic salary under the Operational Guidelines One and the instructions for calculating the monthly retirement income and the emolument granted to serving personnel of the same rank as last held by the retiree set out in the current (or of the previous year if the Guide for the current year has not yet been finalized) Guide Governing the Year-End Working Performance Bonus (condolence payments) to Military, School teachers and Staff. However, should retired public functionaries believe that it would be more in their interest to follow the norms of emolument promulgated in this regulation, rather than calculating the income due their supervisory post according to Subparagraph 2, Item 2 of the preceding Paragraph and they are able to produce evidence as well as approval in fact by the last organization in which they served, then they may make the calculation in accordance with this more favorable norm. “Retired public functionaries referred to in the preceding Paragraph who receive a monthly retirement income exceeding the upper limit of the percentage of retirement income calculated according to the percentages outlined in Paragraph 1 of this Article, deducting the sum deposited in the preferential deposit program of their pension payment, so that it does not exceed the percentage of retirement income, and who also receive a partial monthly retirement payment should calculate their monthly pension according to Paragraph 4 of this Article. However, those whose sum deposited is lower, should take the original sum deposited as the limit” (hereafter the disputed Regulation One). This limits the sum of the preferential deposit granted by the insurance and pension of public functionaries after their retirement. For the same reason, the Ministry of Education on February 3, 1975, released the Operational Guidelines Governing the Public Insurance pension payment amount preferential deposit to retired School Teachers and Staff (abolished on January 1, 2011; hereafter the disputed Operational Guidelines Two); subsequently, due to the implementation of the new pension system regulated by the Regulations of the Statute Governing the Consolation Payment to Surviving Dependents at the Death of School Teachers and Staff for school staff Pension, the Ministry of Education also on January 27, 1996, amended Article 3-1, Paragraphs 1-3, and Paragraphs 7-8, respectively, of the Operational Guidelines Two which took on February 26, 1996, stating that “the monthly income of retired public functionaries who are paid a monthly pension shall not exceed the upper limit of a proportion of the retirement income due to persons currently employed in a similar post and at a similar level. Calculation of the upper limit of this proportion is as follows: (1) For those whose years of service at retirement are determined to be 25 years or below, the upper limit is to be 85%; for those whose years of service at retirement are determined to be more than 25 years, for each additional year, the upper limit is to be increased by 1% with a maximum of up to 95%. For those who have completed six months but not yet one year, the rate is to be calculated as one year. But teachers or principals who have served for a full 35 years and who have a record as a teacher of thirty years and who when applying for retirement calculate their unbroken service as a teacher or principal for a further five years or more, and who have an outstanding record, from the thirty-sixth year on, add 0.5% for each additional year up to a maximum of 97.5%. For college and university principals or teachers concurrently holding administrative posts equivalent to public functionaries concurrently holding executive posts of the twelfth rank or above, whose years of service at retirement are determined to be 25 years or below, the upper limit is to be 75%; for those whose years of service at retirement are determined to be more than 25 years, for each additional year, the upper limit is to be increased by 0.5% per year up to a maximum of 80%. For those who have completed six months but not yet one year, the rate is to be calculated as one year. Persons to whom the increased pension applies, from the thirty-sixth year on, add 0.5% per year up to a maximum of 40 years, with an upper limit of 82.5%. But those who according to Article 6, Paragraph 2, Subparagraph 3, Item 2 of the Operational Guidelines Two choose to add their administrative service, should calculate the upper limit of the percentage of retirement in accordance with the preceding paragraph.” “The monthly retirement pension of persons referred to in the above Article, whose monthly retirement income exceeds the upper limit of the percentage of retired income, under the premise that retirement income under the Act Governing the Retirement of School Teachers and Staff, is not altered, may deduct the sum deposited in the preferential deposit program so as not to exceed the upper limit of the percentage of retirement income.” When the sum of the preferential deposit calculated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article is higher than the amount of the retirement income calculated in accordance with Article 2 and Article 3 of the Operational Guidelines Two, the preferential deposit should be handled according to the latter, lower sum.” “Educational personnel who have already retired before the application of this regulation, for whom the term of their preferential deposit is complete and yet continues to exist after the application of this regulation, enjoy the benefits granted in Subparagraph 2 of the preceding Paragraph applicable to their last place of work. The level of income of their pension should be verified according to the last position he/she held and on approval by the school where they last served. The monthly retirement income and condolence payments of retired school teachers and staff shall be calculated according to the standards of basic salary under the Operational Guidelines Two and the instructions for calculating the monthly retirement income and the emolument granted to serving personnel of the same rank as last held by the retiree set out in the current (or of the previous year if the Guide for the current year has not yet been finalized) Guide Governing the Year-End Working Performance Bonus (condolence payments) to Military, School teachers and Staff. However, should retired educational personnel believe that it would be more in their interest to follow the norms of emolument promulgated in this regulation, rather than calculating the income due their supervisory post according to Subparagraph 2, Item 2 of the preceding Paragraph and they are able to produce evidence as well as approval in fact by the last organization in which they served, then they may make the calculation in accordance with this more favorable norm. “Persons referred to in the preceding Paragraph who received a monthly retirement income exceeding the upper limit of the percentage of retirement income calculated according to the percentages outlined in Paragraph 1 of this Article, deducting the sum deposited in the preferential deposit program of their pension payment, so that it does not exceed the percentage of retirement income, and who also receive a partial monthly retirement payment should calculate their monthly pension according to Paragraph 4 of this Article. However, those whose sum deposited is lower, should take the original sum deposited as the limit” (hereafter the disputed Regulation Two). This limits the sum of the preferential deposit granted by the insurance and pension payments of teachers and staff at educational establishments after their retirement. Given that the disputed Regulations One and Two (hereafter the disputed Regulations) apply only to retired public functionaries and school teachers and staff who receive a monthly retirement pension approved under both the old and new pension system and public functionaries and school teachers and staff (hereafter public functionaries and educational personnel) who have not yet retired but who plan to receive a monthly pension, and they do not affect retired or serving public functionaries and educational personal who are covered only by the old or the new (not both) pension systems or who take one single lump-sum pension.