The Justices Held the Annual Academic Conference of 2022 on the Topic of “Internet and the Constitutional Protection of Fundamental Rights in the Digital Era”.
December 09, 2022
Opening Remarks from President HSU of the Judicial Yuan.
On December 3, The Justices of the Taiwan Constitutional Court (TCC) held the Annual Academic Conference of 2022—“Internet and the Constitutional Protection of Fundamental Rights in the Digital Era”—at the Judges Academy (ROC), Taipei. The Annual Academic Conference has been a long-time tradition of the TCC, in pursuit of exchanging opinions between practitioners and academics of constitutional justice.
President of the Judicial Yuan and Chief Justice of the TCC, Dr. Tzong-Li HSU, opened the annual conference by introducing the theme of this year, the constitutional challenges arose in the digital era. He enumerated a few constitutional controversies whose implications are noteworthy, such as the application of A.I. technology on sentencing procedure, the evidence rules on criminal evidence acquired through digital measures, the protection of the right to be forgotten, the right to access of internet media…etc.
Five sessions of the conference encompassed multi-dimension of the theme, including: (1) “A.I. and the Protection on the Constitutional Rights” presented by Prof. Dr. Chen-Mei FAN CHIANG (The College of Law, Tunghai University), joined by the discussant Director & Distinguished Research Professor Dr. Chien-Liang LEE (Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica), and officiated by Justice Chih-Hsiung HSU; (2) “The Evidence Rules on Criminal Evidence Acquired through Digital Measures and Fundamental Rights of the Constitution”, presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shih-Fan WANG (Department of Law, National Taipei University), joined by the discussant Prof. Dr. Yu-Hsiung LIN (College of Law, National Taiwan University), officiated by Justice Chong-Wen CHANG; (3) “Constitutional Review on the Freedom of Expression and the Regulation of Speeches Regarding Internet Disinformation”, presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hui-Chieh SU (College of Law, National Taiwan University) , joined by the discussant Prof. Dr. Wen-Sheng HSIAO (Department of Law, National Chung-Cheng University), officiated by Justice Jui-Ming HUANG; (4) “The Right to be Forgotten and its Constitutional Safeguard”, presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ting-Chi LIU (College of Law, National Chengchi University), joined by the discussant Director & Professor Dr. Ching-Yi LIU (Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University), officiated by Justice Sheng-Lin JAN; and (5) “Constitutional Protection of Freedom of Speech and the Right to Access Internet Media”, presented by Prof. Dr. Sue-Fen SHAW (The College of Law, Tunghai University), joined by the discussant Prof. Dr. Yeong-Ming CHANG (Department of Economic and Financial Law, National University of Kaosiung), officiated by Justice Jau-Yuan HWANG.
During the conference, academics, audience and Justices made fruitful engagements on different aspects of constitutional issues brought by the development of the internet.
Vice President of the Judicial Yuan, Justice Jeong-Duen TSAI concluded in the closing remarks that, although the digital era brought convenience to the society, along also came the challenges in the protection of constitutional rights. Through understanding the developments in new technologies and foreign practices in dealing similar legal issues, we shall face these challenges more comprehensively.
Justice TSAI further announced that, in 2023, the annual academic conference will be expanded into an international event, accompanied by an international constitutional law forum co-hosted by the TCC and the Judges Association of Taiwan (ROC), in the occasion of Taiwan hosting the 65th Annual Meeting of the International Association of Judges. He welcomed all audiences to participate in next year’s events.
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