In-depth Report on the Taiwan Constitutional Court 2023 Annual Academic Conference
On September 19, 2023, the Justices of the Taiwan Constitutional Court (TCC) held its Annual Academic Conference of 2023 under the theme of “Contemporary Challenges of Constitutionalism.” The conference speakers include The Right Hon. Lord Carloway (Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General of Scotland), The Hon. Dame Susan Glazebrook (Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Immediate Past President (ex officio) of the International Association of Women Judges), Professor Dr. Dainius Žalimas (Former President of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Vytautas Magnus University), and Mr. Ilwon Kang (Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea). Four distinguished speakers, each revered and knowledgeable in their respective jurisdictions, were invited to impart their experiences this year. To facilitate exchanges and broaden the aspect of the discussions, the TCC has also invited two Taiwan-based scholars to join as discussants for each session. Each session is chaired by a Justice of the TCC.
President of the Judicial Yuan and Chief Justice of the TCC, Dr. Tzong-Li HSU, opened the event by introducing the theme of the conference. He stressed that constitutional values are practised through institutional design and legitimate norms, with the Constitution at the cornerstone. He pointed out that only an independent judiciary can ensure effective remedies for breached rights, and in this sense, constitutionalism is closely related to judicial independence and the protection of human rights.
Four sessions of the conference encompassed different dimensions of the theme and practices from different jurisdictions:
The First Session “The Challenges and Possibilities of Common Law Constitutionalism” was presented by The Hon. Dame Susan Glazebrook (Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand/ Te Kōti Mana Nui). Justice Glazebrook introduced common law constitutionalism in New Zealand. By providing four cases, Justice Glazebrook showed how the Supreme Court of New Zealand navigated through constitutional issues made alive its common law constitutionalism, and upheld the Bill of Rights. Justice Glazebrook was joined by discussants Professor Wen-Chen CHANG in person (College of Law, National Taiwan University) and Research Professor Oran Doyle via pre-recording (Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica). The session was chaired by Justice Horng-Shya HUANG.
The Second Session “Contemporary Challenges to the Independence of the Judiciary: Lithuanian Perspective” was presented by Professor Dainius Žalimas via pre-recording and video-call (Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Vytautas Magnus University). Speaking from his experience as the President of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania, Professor Žalimas illustrated Lithuania’s key principles and cases on financial independence and institutional independence of the judiciary. Professor Žalimas was joined by the discussants Professor Jiunn-Rong YEH (College of Law, National Taiwan University) and Research Professor Yen-Tu SU (Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica). This session was chaired by Justice Chen-Huan WU.
The Third Session “Constitutionalism in Korea: Past, Present and Future” was presented by Mr. Ilwon Kang (Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea). Former Justice Kang shared how the Constitutional Court of Korea has pushed forward democracy, modernization, and gender equality through their major decisions. He also listed future tasks and challenges of constitutionalism in Korea and Asia. Former Justice Kang was joined by the discussants Professor Ching-Yi LIU (Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University) and Research Professor Chien-Chih LIN (Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica). This session was chaired by Justice Ming-Cheng TSAI.
The Fourth Session “Balancing the rights of victims and the public interest with the accused’s right to a fair trial” was presented by The Right Hon. Lord Carloway (Lord President of the Court of Session of Scotland). From the vantage point of Scottish legal history, Lord Carloway talked about how the modern right to a fair trial was developed under the influences of common law principles and international treaties. He further elaborated on Scotland’s practice in balancing the accused’s right to a fair trial with the public interest and rights of complainers. Lord Carloway was joined by the discussants Judge Su-E SU (Supreme Court of Taiwan) and Professor Chao-Chun LIN (National Taipei University Department of Law). This session was chaired by Justice Jiun-Yi LIN.
Conference participants engaged productively in different aspects of each session, maintaining the conference tradition of facilitating dialogues between law practitioners and academics of constitutional justice and relevant fields.
Vice President of the Judicial Yuan, Justice Jeong-Duen TSAI closed the conference by summarizing the four conference sessions. He noted that the speakers offered rich experiences from New Zealand, Lithuania, Korea, and Scotland—the kinds of challenges that constitutionalism faces in these countries and what possibilities of future development they have. Justice TSAI ended his remarks by thanking all participants and esteemed presenters for joining this platform of brainstorming and exchanges across the borders.