| Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Original title | 中華民國憲法增修條文 |
| Jurisdiction | Free area of theRepublic of China |
| Ratified | 22 April 1991; 34 years ago (1991-04-22) |
| Date effective | 1 May 1991; 34 years ago (1991-05-01) |
| System | Unitarysemi-presidentialrepublic |
| Government structure | |
| Branches | Five (Executive,Legislative,Judicial,Examination,Control) |
| Head of state | President |
| Chambers | Unicameral (Legislative Yuan) |
| Executive | Executive Yuan led by thePremier |
| Judiciary | Judicial Yuan |
| Federalism | Unitary |
| Electoral college | No |
| History | |
| First legislature | |
| First executive | May 20, 1996 (President) |
| Amendments | 7 |
| Last amended | June 10, 2005 |
| Commissioned by | National Assembly |
| Signatories | 457 of the 583 remaining delegates, inTaipei (most delegates elected in1947, with some elected in1969 and1986) |
| Supersedes | Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion and most articles of the originalConstitution of the Republic of China |
| Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 中華民國憲法 增修條文 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中华民国宪法 增修条文 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheAdditional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China are the revisions andamendments to theoriginal constitution of theRepublic of China to "meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification", taking into account thedemocratic reforms and currentpolitical status of Taiwan. The Additional Articles are usually attached after the original constitution as a separate document. It also has its ownpreamble and article ordering different from the original constitution.[1]
The Additional Articles has been part of the fundamental law of the presentgovernment of the Republic of China on Taiwan since 1991, and were last amended in 2005. The Additional Articles willsunset in the event the Republic of Chinaregains control of theMainland Area.
The current Additional Articles of the Constitution entail 12 articles:
The territory controlled by theGovernment of the Republic of China changed significantly after theChinese Civil War, and the Republic of China could not holdelections in territories it did not control. Thus, the Additional Articles of the Constitution defines theFree Area (Chinese:自由地區;pinyin:Zìyóu Dìqū;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Chū-iû Tē-khu;Pha̍k-fa-sṳ:Chhṳ-yù Thi-khî) to be the territory and the people under thegovernment's effective jurisdiction. Whilst all residents of China are nominally citizens of the Republic,[citation needed] only the citizens who have the right to abode in the Free Area may exercise the full civil and political rights, includingright of abode andsuffrage.
The Additional Articles requiresdirect election of thePresident by the citizens of thefree area.[2] The firstdirect presidential election was held in 1996. Under the original constitution, thePresident was electedindirectly by theNational Assembly.
The Additional Articles of the Constitution reformed thegovernment of the Republic of China from aparliamentary system to ade factosemi-presidential system. TheNational Assembly isde facto abolished, and its functions are exercised directly by the citizens of theFree area. The five-power governmental structure is retained, though it functions closer to the traditional Westerntrias politica in practice.
A 2005 amendment regarding on referendum stated that aconstitutional amendment or an alteration of the national territory has to be ratified by more than half (50%) of voters of the Free Area in areferendum after passed in theLegislative Yuan with athree-quarters majority. Before that,constitutional amendments and national territory alterations were ratified by theNational Assembly.
Most of the amendments brought by theAdditional Articles focuses on the mechanism ofseparation of powers among central governmental organs. TheAdditional Articles changed theform of government fromparliamentary system tosemi-presidential system, enhance the implementation ofdirect democracy anddirect election, reduce thechambers ofparliament, and simplify the hierarchy oflocal governments.[3]
| Governmental structure | Additional Articles (2005) | Original Constitution (1947) |
|---|---|---|
| Form of government | Semi-presidential republic | Parliamentary republic |
| Head of state | Thepresident iselected directly by the citizens of thefree area (Taiwan) to a four-year term, and may be re-elected once. | Thepresident iselected indirectly by theNational Assembly to a six-year term, and may be re-elected once. |
| Head of government | Thepremier is appointed by the president. TheLegislative Yuan may vote on amotion of no confidence. | Thepremier is nominated and appointed by the president, with the consent of theLegislative Yuan. |
| Parliament | Unicameralism:Legislative Yuan
| Tricameralism:National Assembly,Legislative Yuan andControl Yuan
|
| Judiciary | Thejustices are nominated and appointed by the president with the consent of theLegislative Yuan to an eight-year term. | Thejustices are nominated and appointed by the president with the consent of theControl Yuan to a nine-year term. |
| Local government | The provinces are streamlined:counties andcities under provinces are subordinated directly to thecentral government. | A two-level system is in place: the provincial-level and the county-level. |
The Additional Articles of the Constitution have been amended seven times since the 1990s.
| Amendment | Process | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Apr 22, 1991 | Ratified by1st National Assembly | Delegates elected in1947,1969, and1986. In the 583 delegates, 470 attended, 457 agreed. |
| May 1, 1991 | Promulgated by8th PresidentLee Teng-hui | Additional Articles established | |
| 2nd | May 27, 1992 | Ratified by2nd National Assembly | Delegates elected in1986 and1991. In the 403 delegates, 285 attended, 277 agreed. |
| May 28, 1992 | Promulgated by 8th President Lee Teng-hui | ||
| 3rd | Jul 28, 1994 | Ratified by 2nd National Assembly | Delegates elected in1991. In the 321 delegates, 220 attended, 215 agreed. |
| Aug 1, 1994 | Promulgated by 8th President Lee Teng-hui | ||
| 4th | Jul 18, 1997 | Ratified by3rd National Assembly | Delegates elected in1996. In the 333 delegates, 269 attended, 261 agreed. |
| Jul 21, 1997 | Promulgated by9th PresidentLee Teng-hui | ||
| 5th | Sep 3, 1999 | Ratified by 3rd National Assembly | Delegates elected in 1996. In the 315 delegates, 214 attended, 211 agreed. |
| Sep 15, 1999 | Promulgated by 9th President Lee Teng-hui | ||
| Mar 24, 2000 | Voided by Justices of theJudicial Yuan | Constitutional Interpretation No. 499 | |
| 6th | Apr 24, 2000 | Ratified by 3rd National Assembly | Delegates elected in 1996. In the 314 delegates, 287 attended, 285 agreed. |
| Apr 25, 2000 | Promulgated by 9th President Lee Teng-hui | ||
| 7th (in effect) | Aug 23, 2004 | Proposed by 5thLegislative Yuan | Members elected in2001. In the 225 members, 198 attended, 198 agreed. |
| Jun 7, 2005 | Ratified by theNational Assembly | Delegates elected in2005. In the 300 delegates, 298 attended, 249 agreed. | |
| Jun 10, 2005 | Promulgated by11th PresidentChen Shui-bian | Currently in force | |
| —— (failed) | Mar 25, 2022 | Proposed by10thLegislative Yuan | Members elected in2020. In the 113 members, 109 attended, 109 agreed. |
| Nov 26, 2022 | Ratification failed innational referendum | Out of 19,239,392 eligible voters, only 5,647,102 agreed.See2022 Taiwanese constitutional referendum | |
