Legislature adopts new laws to help protect human rights

This article was published by the Macroview Weekly on May 9, 2007. It reports that the Legislature in Taiwan recently passed several significant pieces of legislation aimed at protecting equal employment opportunities and gender equality as part of the government's efforts to protect human rights.

According to an amendment to the Employment Services Law passed by the Legislature, employers are prohibited from discriminating against their employees or job applicants on the basis of birth place, sex, sexual identity, ethnic background, religious beliefs, marital status, party affiliation, appearance, or labor union membership.

The legislation was praised as another important milestone in Taiwan's human rights history. It would provide a fairer and better environment for workers in all professions.

The Legislature also passed an amendment to the family chapter of the Civil Code, under which children born to Taiwanese citizens may choose to carry either parent's surname and those born out of wedlock may demand recognition by their biological fathers and claim a range of legal rights guaranteed under the law.

The amendment passed the legislature without much debate. It was praised as a significant step in promoting gender equality because under the existing law, almost all Taiwanese children carry their fathers' surnames.

After the revised law takes effect, parents may discuss the matter and decide whether their children should take the surname of their mother or father. The legal reform, which has been under discussion for along time, finally cleared the Legislature recently.

The bill also allowed the legal threshold for illegitimate children to seek to confirm their ties to their biological father. Currently, they have to provide proof that their parents lived together or that their father forced their mother to have sex. Under the new legislation, only objective evidence or facts are needed to declare a relationship and there are no time constraints for processing the procedure.

In addition, marriage ceremonies will not be considered to be complete if the newlyweds fail to register with household registration offices. Presently, a public ceremony attended by at least two witnesses suffices to make a marriage official.

The new law is considered necessary to help prevent or reduce the incidence of bigamy.