Majority of Grand Justice Nominees Support Same-Sex Marriage

Majority of Grand Justice Nominees Support Same-Sex Marriage

Source: All Taipei newspapers   October 20, 2016

The issue of same-sex marriage became the focus of yesterday’s confirmation session of the nominations for Grand Justices at the Legislative Yuan. Among the six Grand Justice nominees attending the session, Judicial Yuan President nominee Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) gave conditional support for same-sex marriage, while the other five nominees were either supportive or open-minded about same-sex marriage. Grand Justice nominee Chan San-lin (詹森林), a law professor at National Taiwan University, told legislators during the legislative confirmation proceedings that out of concerns for human dignity, he respected people’s choices regarding sexual orientation, saying that the Civil Code should be revised to allow same-sex marriage.

In Taiwan, there is no public consensus as to whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage. 

In addition to Chan, Grand Justice nominees Huang Juei-min (黃瑞明), a human rights lawyer, and Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄), a law professor at National Chia Yi University, clearly stated that they supported same-sex marriage.

Grand Justice nominees Chang Chiung-wen (張瓊文), Judicial Yuan Deputy Secretary-General and Tsai Chung-tun (蔡烱燉), a Taiwan Provincial High Court judge, did not clearly state whether or not they supported same-sex marriage, but appeared to be open-minded regarding the issue. 

Grand Justice nominee Hwang Jau-yuan (黃昭元), a law professor at National Taiwan University, gave no comment on the issue, citing the fact that the Council of Grand Justices was currently conducting a judicial review based on a petition on the issue.

Grand Justice nominee Chan San-lin stated yesterday that he supported same-sex marriage because the freedom of marriage was guaranteed under the ROC Constitution.  

Citing Article 22 of the Constitution, which stipulates that “All other freedoms and rights of the people that are not detrimental to social order or public welfare shall be guaranteed under the Constitution,” Grand Justice nominee Huang Juei-min stated that same-sex marriage did not involve issues of social order or public welfare, so both homosexual and heterosexual marriages shall be guaranteed by the Constitution.  

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