| Historical Background of Control Yuan
|
 |
The control system in
China began more than two thousand years ago in Chin
(246-206 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) dynasties.
At that time, the government was placed under the supervision
and control of the office of yu-shih(御史) . During the
reign of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, the posts of
cheng-hsiang szu-shih(丞相司直) and szu-li chiao-wei(司隸校尉)
were instituted in the capital. Also established were
13 pu-tzu-shih(部刺史) to ride herd on the provinces. Emperor
Kuang Wu of the Eastern Han dynasty (A.D. 25-57) modified
the system by using the szu-li chiao- wei to supervise
the capital and 12 pu-tzu-shih to oversee provincial
activities. The modification continued after the Wei
(220-265) and Tsin (265-420) dynasties. In Sui (581-618)
and Tang (618-904) dynasties, the office of yu-shih
was divided into tai (台)and chien(諫). The former was
charged with supervising civil officials and military
officers while the latter was responsible for counseling
the emperor. In keeping with the tzu-shih(刺史) system
of the Han dynasty, an-cha-shih(按察史) was established
to supervise the officials in 15 provinces. The functions
of tai and chien became blurred in the second half of
the Sung dynasty (960-1279), leading to the mergence
of the two offices in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368).
In Ming (1368-1644) and Ching (1644-1911) dynasties,
tu-cha-yuan(都察院) was set up to supervise government
ethics, marking further development of the control and
supervision system. Supervision at the local level was
strengthened and the number of chien-cha yu-shih(監察御史)
was increased from 13 to 15. Toward the end of the Ching
dynasty, the number was further increased to 20. They
were responsible for conducting investigations in various
areas and reporting cases of impeachment to the throne.
Their goal was to commend good officials, condemn bad
ones and enforce discipline in the officialdom. The
founding father of the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen
advocated a five-power constitution as early as 1905,
when he founded Tung Meng Hui to spearhead the Chinese
revolution. He adopted the Western system of checks
and balance between legislative, executive and judiciary
powers, and added two traditional Chinese government
powers of examination and supervision (control) to complete
the five-power system. When the new republic was established
in Peking in 1912, it first implemented the three-power
system of the West, leaving the power of impeachment
to the parliament. The five-power system was adopted
in 1928 when China was reunited in the Northward Expedition.
First, an Auditing Yuan was established in February
1928 to control government finance. In February 1931,
the Control Yuan was formed to serve as the highest
supervisory organ of the National Government by exercising
the powers of auditing and impeachment. At the same
time, the Auditing Yuan was downgraded into the Ministry
of Audit and was subordinated to the Control Yuan. In
1937, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the
powers of censure and recommendation were added to the
Control Yuan.
The Constitution of the Republic of China was enacted
on December 25, 1947. And the first constitutional Control
Yuan was organized on June 5, 1948 by members elected
by provincial, municipal, Tibetan and Mongolian representative
councils and overseas Chinese communities according to
the Constitution.
When the Constitution was put into effect, the Control
Yuan set up branch offices in various regions. These
offices were suspended when the central government was
relocated from the mainland to Taiwan.
When the second National Assembly met in May 1992,
it approved the Additional Articles of the Constitution
of the Republic of China, which provides that the Control
Yuan shall have 29 members, including a president and
a vice president, all of whom shall serve a term of
six years and shall be nominated and, with the consent
of the National Assembly, appointed by the President
of the Republic. Henceforth, members of the Control
Yuan are no longer elected by representative councils.
In accordance with this constitutional amendment, the
members of the second Control Yuan, nominated and appointed
by the President with the consent of the National Assembly,
began to exercise their powers on February 1, 1993.
|
|
 |
Regulations
Email: 