The Control Yuan

As introduced by the Yearbook of the Republic of China:

The Control Yuan is the highest control organization of the state, exercising the powers of impeachment, censure, and audit. It was formerly a parliamentarian body, with its members elected by provincial and municipal councils. In May 1992, constitutional amendments transformed the organization of the Control Yuan. Article 15 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China provides that the 29 members of the Control Yuan (including its president and vice president) are to be nominated and appointed by the ROC President with the consent of the National Assembly. The term of office is six years. The second Control Yuan began operations on February 1, 1993. In February 1999, members of the third Control Yuan were nominated and appointed through the same process.

In April 2000, amendment of the Constitution by the third National Assembly deprived the Control Yuan's power to institute the impeachment of the President and Vice President of the Republic, with the Legislative Yuan empowered to take over the duty. According to the present version of the Additional Articles, nominations of the fourth-term Control Yuan members require the consent of the Legislative Yuan.

Organization

Meetings are held monthly with the president acting as chairman. The Control Yuan has seven committees, which handle cases on domestic and ethnic minority affairs, foreign and overseas Chinese affairs, national defense and intelligence affairs, finance and economic affairs, education and cultural affairs, transportation, communications and procurement affairs, and judicial affairs and prison administration. Each Control Yuan member may join three committees and participate in other committees as a nonvoting member. Each committee elects a convener from among its members (no more than 14) to handle routine affairs.

Members

Control Yuan members are responsible for correcting government officials at all levels, monitoring the government, and protecting human rights. Members of the Control Yuan must be beyond party control, exercise their powers independently, and discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the law. Article 103 of the Constitution also stipulates that "no member of the Control Yuan shall concurrently hold any other public office or engage in any other profession."

Functions

The Constitution defines the Control Yuan as the highest control organization of the Republic. It is empowered to institute impeachment proceedings against public officials of the central or local government, except for the president and the vice president of the Republic, if that individual is guilty of dereliction of duty or violation of law. A decision concerning a motion for impeachment requires the concurrence of nine Control Yuan members other than those two or more initiated the motion. If the case is affirmed in the Control Yuan it goes to the appropriate authority for action-the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries in the case of a civil servant, or the Ministry of National Defense for military personnel.

A Control Yuan member may, with the support of three other members, file a written censure against a public official, whose offense requires immediate suspension of duty or punishment. Pending legal proceedings, the superior of a censured official must follow the Act on Discipline of Public Functionaries within one month of receiving the written censure.

The Control Yuan may investigate the operations of the Executive Yuan and its subordinate agencies and propose corrective measures to be examined by relevant committees and referred to the related government agencies, which must take appropriate action and report to the Control Yuan in writing.

Under the Control Act, citizens are authorized to initiate proceedings against public officials by filing a written complaint with the Control Yuan. The complaint and any supporting evidence is considered by the member on duty, who will decide appropriate action.

The members of the Control Yuan or their designees may conduct field investigations by requesting relevant documents and archives of public or private organizations based on complaints or press reports regarding dereliction of duty or violation of law. They may also initiate investigations.

The Control Yuan exercises its power of audit through its Ministry of Audit, which establishes audit departments in provinces and special municipalities and sets up county and city audit offices. Audit departments or offices may be established within special government agencies, state-run enterprises, or public institutions.

According to the Constitution, the auditor-general is nominated by the President of the Republic of China and appointed with the consent of the Legislature. The auditor-general is responsible for auditing central government expenditures.

The Ministry of Audit's duties and functions include supervision of the budgets of all government organizations, examination of the approved orders of receipts and disbursements, examination of the financial administration of the receipts and disbursements and the authorization of the final financial statements, inspection and audit of public properties and investigation of financial irregularities and abuse of power, evaluation and verification of the efficiency and effectiveness of financial administration decisions on financial responsibilities, and other auditing functions prescribed by law. The audit agencies also monitor government bids, contract awards, and proceedings concerning the redemption of bonds and conduct random inspections of ongoing construction projects.

The Control Yuan established the Department of Assets Disclosure for Public Functionaries in August 1993. In accordance with Article 4 of the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Act, the Control Yuan receives assets disclosure reports from the President and Vice President of the Republic, the presidents and vice presidents of the five yuan, political appointees, paid advisors to the president of the Republic, elected officials at the level of township magistrates or above, and elected representatives of counties and cities under provincial jurisdiction and higher administrative units.

Furthermore, the Public Officials Conflicts of Interest Prevention Act, enforced in July 2000, was an extension of the sunshine law to avoid any acts that are directly or indirectly constituted dereliction of duty by public officials under the 12 categories stated in the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Act.