Supreme Administrative Court Upholds Granting Preliminary Injunction Barring MOI from Rescinding NWL’s Accreditation

 Supreme Administrative Court Upholds Granting Preliminary Injunction Barring MOI from Rescinding NWL’s Accreditation

Source: All Taipei Newspapers

July 10, 2020

On April 27 this year, the Interior Ministry issued an administrative disposition against the National Women's League (NWL) rescinding the latter’s accreditation and ordering the liquidation of its assets on grounds that the NWL had failed to transform itself into a political party within two years of the implementation of the Political Parties Act, as stipulated in the law. The NWL thus filed an administrative suit with the Taipei High Administrative Court against the MOI’s disposition, and filed, at the same time, a petition for a preliminary injunction.  

The Taipei High Administrative Court determined that the phasing-out mechanism for political groups stipulated in the Political Parties Act might be unconstitutional as it was too rigid and inflexible, excessively limiting people’s freedom of association. The court then granted, on May 27, the request for a preliminary injunction in favor of the NWL, ruling that the MOI’s administrative disposition be suspended pending the outcome of the trial, and that with the exception of accepting further political contributions, the NWL was allowed to engage continuously in other activities. The MOI thus filed an interlocutory appeal against the ruling with the Supreme Administrative Court.  

In a hearing for the interlocutory appeal yesterday, the Supreme Administrative Court agreed with the legal opinions made by the lower court, and rejected the MOI’s interlocutory appeal, upholding the lower court’s ruling, i.e., the petition of preliminary injunction was granted to bar the MOI from rescinding the NWL’s accreditation while ordering the liquidation of its assets, pending the outcome of the trial.  

The Supreme Administrative Court opined that the MOI’s disposition of rescinding the NWL’s accreditation would definitely bring “irreparable and immediate harm” to the NWL, constituting a requisite for implementing a preliminary injunction. The Court further pointed out that according to the lower court’s ruling, the NWL was banned from accepting political contributions, so granting the preliminary injunction would not cause any severe impact to public causes.

Attachment : none