The Legislative Yuan
As introduced by the Legislative Yuan, Republic of
China
The
Legislative Yuan
Article 62 of the Constitution of the Republic of China stipulates
that the Legislative Yuan is the highest legislative body in the country,
and that it is to be constituted by members elected by the people who
then make laws as representatives of the people.
The political system of the Republic of China takes as its guiding
principle the Five Power Constitution of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The central
government is divided into five Yuans, or branches. In addition to the
Legislative Yuan, these are the Executive Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the
Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan. In terms of its basic nature
and functions, the Legislative Yuan is equivalent to a Parliament or
Congress in a democratic country.
Brief History
The Legislative Yuan was established in Nanking in 1928, at the beginning
of the Stage of Tutelary Government. In the 20 Year Tutelary period,
the Legislative Yuan passed many fundamental statutes, including those
for civil law, criminal law, land law, labor law, commercial law and
budgetary law. It also completed the preliminary draft of the Constitution
of the Republic of China, laying the legal foundation for the later
transition to the Stage of Constitutional Government.
In 1948, elections were held for the 760 members of the very first
legislature of the Constitutional era. The first meeting of the 1st
Session was formally convened on May 18, 1948. In 1949 the Legislative
Yuan moved with the rest of the government to Taiwan, and convened the
5th Session at the Chungshan Hall in Taipei on February 24, 1950. In
1958, the Yuan moved to its current site on Chungshan South Road, and
has gradually expanded over the years to its present size.
Legislators
The Legislative Yuan is constituted by members elected from four constituencies:
(1) Those elected from provinces and municipalities in the free areas;
(2) Those elected by minority people in the free areas; (3) Those selected
from among Overseas Chinese; (4) National representatives (elected without
regard to district or region) nominated by their parties and accorded
seats in direct proportion to the given party's proportion of the popular
vote.
Legislators serve three year terms, and may be reelected indefinitely.
Elections for the succeeding Yuan must be completed within three months
prior to the expiration of the seated Yuan's terms.
Legislators may not simultaneously serve as government officials. They
are given legal immunity for their speech and votes inside the Yuan.
Sessions
The Legislative Yuan convenes sessions twice a year. These are convened
Automatically. The first runs from February to the end of May, and the
second from September to the end of December. Sessions may be extended
for the purpose of deliberating legislation. Thus meetings may actually
run for as much as ten months a year. Emergency sessions may also be
held by invitation from the nation's President or by request of one-fourth
of the members.
Meetings
[See Figure 1, 42K]
Legislative Yuan meetings are scheduled for every Tuesday and Friday.
The number of meetings can be increased or cut back if so decided by
the body.
The Legislative Yuan has ten standing committees: Home and Border Affairs,
Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs, National Defense, Economic, Finance,
Budget, Education, Transportation and Communications, Judiciary, and
Organic Laws.
There are also five special committees: Disciplinary, Rules, Audit,
Publications, and Constitutional Amendment.
In addition, there is a Committee of the Whole. Whenever the Legislative
Yuan exercises its powers to approve the nominee for the Premiership
and for the Auditor General of the Control Yuan, or is asked to exercise
the power of reconsideration of a bill at the request of the Executive
Yuan (Cabinet), the first step is deliberation by the Committee of the
Whole.
Administrative Structure
The Legislative Yuan is headed by a President and a Vice President,
equivalent to a Speaker and a Vice Speaker. These are elected from among
and by the legislators for terms of three years. The President chairs
meetings and supervises the general affairs of the Yuan; while the Vice
President acts in his or her stead if the President cannot be available.
The Secretary-General is the highest staff member of the Yuan. He or
she handles Yuan affairs under the direction of the President, and in
turn oversees the staff members under his or her jurisdiction as well
as those under the standing and special committees. There is also a
Deputy Secretary-general to assist the Secretary-general
Other administrative arms of the Legislative Yuan include: (1) The
Secretariat, which includes the Conference Department, the Documentation
Center, the Administrative Department, the Press Office, the Library
and Reference Center, the Stenography Office, and the Security Detail.
(2) The Legislative Research Service, including the Legislation Section,
the Budget Section, and the Translation and Compilation Section; (3)
The Office of Accounting; (4) The Office of Personnel; and (5) staff
units of the various standing and special committees.
Powers
According to the provisions of the Constitution, the main responsibilities
of the Legislative Yuan include deliberating and voting on legislation,
budgets, declarations of emergency law, amnesties, declarations of war
and peace agreements, treaties, and other important national affairs.
Other responsibilities which fall to the Yuan include approving the
Premier and the head of the Ministry of Audit of the Control Yuan, concurring
with and following up emergency orders issued by the President of the
country, drawing up proposed amendments to the Constitution, passing
resolution to give financial subsidies to local governments, and resolving
disputes over the division of powers between the central and local governments.
Another important function in overseeing the work of the executive
branch agencies is the interpellation power, exercised by legislators
individually.
The Legislative Process
[See Figure 2, 92K]
The first step in passing or amending legislation is to propose a bill.
A bill may originate with the Executive Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the
Examination Yuan, the Control Yuan, or with legislators themselves.
In the past most bills were initiated by the executive branch, but in
recent years there has been a trend toward individual legislators proposing
bills themselves.
After the bill gets to the Secretariat, the Secretary-general sets
the agenda, which is printed up after approval by the Rules Committee.
For bills proposed by other Yuans, after the bill is clearly read in
a Yuan meeting (the "first reading"), it is passed along to
committees for review, or perhaps sent directly for a "second reading".
For bills proposed by legislators, these must be discussed at a full
meeting of the Yuan. The bill is then sent to committee, passed on to
the second reading, or tabled (no longer considered), depending on the
decision of the Yuan meeting.
Second
reading meetings discuss the bills which have been deliberated by various
committees, or bills which have been sent on for the second reading
by the decision of a full meeting. For the "third meeting",
except in cases where parts of the law are found to be in conflict with
the Constitution or other statues, this reading is only for final corrections
of wording, not substance. According to the agenda rules of the Yuan,
legislation and budget bills require three readings, while other types
of resolutions require only two readings.
Legislation or budget bills that pass the third reading are then checked
over by the Legislative Yuan President and printed. The President is
then asked to formally promulgate the bill, and the Executive Yuan is
notified in writing. The President is required to promulgate the law
within ten days after receiving it. Alternatively, according to Article
57 of the Constitution, the bill can be returned to the Legislative
Yuan for reconsideration.
If the Executive Yuan feels it would be difficult to implement or follow
any law, budget, treaty or resolution calling for a change in a major
policy issued by the Legislative Yuan, it may -- after receiving the
approval of the state President -- return the item to the Legislative
Yuan for reconsideration. If the original item passes with a two-thirds
majority, the Premier must accept the item or resign.
"Petitions" are the most direct method for citizens to express
their interests. As democracy has developed, the number of petitions
presented by citizens directly to the Legislative Yuan has increased
continually. Written petitions are first processed by the Secretariat,
and then sent by the Rules Committee to the relevant committee for review.
Those that become bills after review are then processed in the same
way as other bills. Those that do not become bills are reported to a
general meeting for consideration. If a member in attendance then proposed
that the petition become a bill, and 30 or more other members sign on
to this proposal, the petition can still become a formal bill.
The Legislative Yuan is the Highest representative body in the nation,
charged with reflecting public opinion, aggregating public opinion,
passing laws, determining budgets, setting national policy, and overseeing
government administration. It is also the political stage for the ordered
conflict between ruling and opposition parties. After many years of
sacrifices and difficulties, the Republic of China is rapidly getting
on the track of a healthy rule of law society. Today, because of changes
in the domestic and international circumstances and the transformation
of local society, the Legislative Yuan is facing many fresh new challenges.
At this historical juncture, what is required now is the dedication
and hard work of all the legislators and workers of the Yuan with the
final objective of building a new China characterized by democracy,
freedom, the rule of law, peace and progress.
