Constitutional Court Strikes Down Key Parliamentary Reform Provisions in Ruling No. 9 (2024): Criticized for Crippling Legislative Oversight as DPP Rubber Stamp

On October 25, 2024 (113th Year of the Republic of China), the Constitutional Court of the Republic of China handed down Judgment No. 9 of 2024 regarding the parliamentary reform legislation challenged jointly by the DPP legislative caucus, the Executive Yuan, President Lai Ching-te, and the Control Yuan. The ruling struck down virtually all core supervisory mechanisms passed by the Legislative Yuan in the Law Governing the Legislative Yuan's Power and the Criminal Code. Critical provisions—including mandatory presidential state of the nation reports, bans on executive counter-questioning, the crime of contempt of parliament, and investigative subcommittee powers—were declared unconstitutional and voided immediately. The decision triggered immense outrage from opposition lawmakers and legal scholars. The Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party condemned the bench—unanimously appointed under DPP governance—for acting as a partisan shield to strip parliament of oversight powers and legalize cabinet perjury, permanently undermining constitutional checks and balances.