1. What
are the powers of the Control Yuan
According to the Constitution of the Republic of China
and its Additional Articles, the Control Yuan has the
powers of impeachment, censure and audit. Besides, it
may take corrective measures against government organizations.
To fulfill these powers, members of the Control Yuan
may accept people's petitions, inspect central and local
governments, conduct investigations, and supervise examinations.
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2. On what and whom does the Control Yuan
exercise its power of impeachment?
The power of impeachment may be exercised on a wide-range
of public officials, including the President and Vice
President of the Republic of China and all public functionaries
at the central and local levels. But the public functionaries
to be impeached must (1) either have violated the law
or (2) have neglected their duties.
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3. How does the Control Yuan exercise
its power of impeachment?
The impeachment of a central or local government employee
must be initiated by at least two members of the Yuan
and reviewed by another nine members. Only after the
case is established in a secret vote, can it be sent
to the Committee on the Discipline of Public Functionaries
for deliberations. If the act of an impeached public
functionary has violated the Criminal Code or the Military
Law, the case shall be referred to a court or court
martial for appreciate action.
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4. How does the Control Yuan exercise
its power of censure?
Control Yuan members may initiate a case of censure
against a government employee who has violated the law
or neglected his or her duty if these members think
the employee should be suspended from duty or that the
case calls for urgent actions.
After being reviewed and decided by more than three
other members, the case will be referred by the control
Yuan to the competent organization of the employee or
to his or her superior for action. If the case involves
violations of the Criminal Code or the Military Law,
it will also be forwarded to the competent law court
or court martial for legal action.
After the person-in-charge and the superior organization
of the censured person have received the case, they
should take appropriate action according to the provision
of the Law of Discipline against Public functionaries
within a month while waiting for the competent organization
to handle the criminal code or military law violations.
The person-in-charge or the superior organization may
suspend the duty of the censured person or take other
immediate actions. If the superior considers no action
should be taken against the censured person, an appropriate
explanation must be made to the Control Yuan immediately.
If the person-in-charge or the superior organization
of the censured person has failed to take action in
compliance with law or if two or more Control Yuan members
consider the action taken as inappropriate, they may
propose to turn the case of censure into a case of impeachment.
If the censured person is punished after the censure
case is turned into an impeachment case, the person-in-charge
or the superior organization must take the blame for
the dereliction of duty.
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5. Who would be the objects and what would
be the causes for the Control Yuan to exercise its power
of correction?
The power of correction exercised by the Control Yuan
is aimed at the Executive Yuan and its subordinate organizations.
The causes are their violations of law or neglect of
duties. Only when the violation of law or neglect of
duty has been ascertained in investigation by Control
Yuan members and established by the Yuan's relevant
committees, can a case of correction be initiated and
forwarded to the Executive Yuan or its concerned ministries
and commissions for improving their measures. <top>
6. What is the relationship between the
Control Yuan's power of correction and its powers of
impeachment and censure?
Both the power of impeachment and the power of censure
exercised by Control Yuan members are aimed at punishing
or warning the public functionaries working with the
central government or local governments who have violated
the law or neglected their duties.
The impeachment is raised before the organization in
charge of punishing the law-violating and duty-neglecting
public functionaries while a censure is presented to
the person-in-charge or a superior organization of the
law-breaking or duty-neglecting person. The power of
correction is aimed at the work and measures of the
Executive Yuan and its subordinate organizations. If
such work or measures are found as having broken the
law or neglected the duties, the Control Yuan, after
deliberations by its various committees, will send the
case to the Executive Yuan or its concerned subordinate
organizations to urge them for improvement.
Therefore, the powers of impeachment and censure are
aimed at people while the power of correction is intended
for administrative affairs. As they are different in
nature, their exercise and objects are also different. <top>
7. What should the Executive Yuan and
its subordinate organizations do after the Control Yuan
has made a case of correction?
After receiving a case of correction, the Executive
Yuan or its concerned ministries and commissions should
immediately make improvement or take appropriate actions.
They should also reply to the Control Yuan in writing.
If they have failed to reply to the Control Yuan within
two months about their improvement and actions, the
Control Yuan may question these organizations.
If they refuse to answer the question or if the answer
is unsatisfactory, the Control Yuan may initiate a case
of censure or a case of impeachment against the head
of the organization that is responsible for answering. <top>
8. What are the differences among
the powers of impeachment, censure, and correction exercised
by the Control Yuan?
The differences can be tabulated as follows:
| Item
case |
Impeachment |
Censure |
Correction |
| 1. Causes
| Violation of law or neglect of duties by government
employees |
Violation of law or neglect of duties by government
employees mandating the suspension of duty or
other urgent actions |
The work or measure of an administrative organization
runs counter to the law or its duty |
| 2. Objects
| all public functionaries working at the central
and local levels. |
Public functionaries at the central and local
levels |
The Executive Yuan and its subordinate organizations |
| 3. Review and decision
| Impeachment of a central or local public functionary
should be proposed by at least two members and
the case should be reviewed and decided by more
than nine other members. |
The case should be proposed by more than one
member and reviewed and decided by more than three
other members. |
It should be reviewed and decided by a relevant
committee of the Control Yuan |
| 4. Referral organ for action
| A case of impeachment against a public functionary
at the central or local level shall be referred
to the Committee on the Discipline of Public functionaries.
|
The case shall be sent to the boss or a superior
of the censured person. |
It shall be sent to the Executive Yuan or a
concerned ministry or commission. |
| 5. Purposes
| Punishment |
It shall be handled according to the Law of
Discipline for Public Functionaries. A suspension
of duty or other urgent actions may be taken. |
The administrative organ involved is urged to
make improvement. |
| 6. Criminal involvement
| If the public functionary has violated the criminal
code or military law, the case shall also be referred
to a law court or court martial for action. |
If the act of a public functionary has violated
the criminal code or military law, the case shall
also be sent to a law court or court martial for
action. |
. |
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9. Why does the Control Yuan exercise
the power of investigation?
According to the Constitution, its Additional Articles,
the Control Law and other related statutes, the Control
Yuan may exercise the powers of impeachment and censure.
It may also propose corrective measures. The exercise
of these powers requires investigation to make the case
clear and such a case can be initiated only after the
facts have been found out. Therefore, investigation
is a necessary means to the exercise of control powers.
The law allows the Control Yuan to exercise this power
of investigation. <top>
10. How does the Control Yuan exercise
its power of investigation?
When exercising the power of investigation, the Control
Yuan may either assign its members to make the investigation,
let its members to do the investigation on their own
initiative, commission the investigation to a relevant
organization, or do the investigation by circuit supervision. <top>
11. What is an assigned investigation?
When the Control Yuan goes to investigate facts contained
in people's written petitions, it may assign a member
in rotation to carry out the task or, in compliance
with a resolution of the Control Yuan conference or
a relevant committee, elect a member or send the member
in rotation to make the investigation. This is called
assigned investigation.
The rotational investigation is based on the order
of members' seats at the Control Yuan conference. In
a major case, the Control Yuan conference or a related
committee may resolve to elect two or three members
to do the investigation as a task force. <top>
12. What is an own motion investigation?
When a Control Yuan member receives a petition from
the people or has obtained related material and thinks
an investigation is necessary, he or she may apply for
own motion investigation.
In doing so, he or she must first register with the
Department of supervisory operations of the Control
Yuan. Then, the Department must find out whether the
same case has been assigned or has been under taken
by another member. It will keep the applicant informed
after it has found out the reality. If it finds that
the case has been assigned or has been investigated
by another member, it will refer the case to the member
already having proceeded with the investigation for
disposal.
If the case of own motion investigation is special,
the President of the Control Yuan may seek the agreement
of the applicant, or base on his or her report, to assign
a member with the required specialty to join in the
investigation. If a member has more than ten cases of
investigation pending, he or she may be obliged to suspend
temporarily the application for more own motion investigations. <top>
13. What is commissioned investigation?
If necessary, the Control Yuan may commission a case
or an item to a related organization for investigation.
This is called commissioned investigation.
The commissioned organization shall proceed with the
investigation immediately and make a written reply to
the Control Yuan on the results of its investigation.
If no reply is received within two months, the Control
Yuan will urge the commissioned organization to hurry
up. If the Control Yuan still receives no reply and
if the member in charge of the case deems it necessary,
he or she may change the commissioned investigation
into an assigned investigation and inquire about the
responsibility of the commissioned organization for
the delay. <top>
14. Are personnel of the Judicial Yuan,
Examination Yuan, and the Control Yuan itself also objects
of the Control Yuan's exercise of the power of investigation?
In addition to the Executive Yuan and its subordinate
organizations and their staffs, the Control Yuan may
also investigate the personnel of the Judicial Yuan,
the Executive Yuan, and the Control Yuan itself to see
if they have violated the law or neglected their duties. <top>
15. Can the Control Yuan investigate
cases pending in a law court?
In principle, the Control Yuan will not investigate
a case pending in a law court. But if the defendant
is suspect of malfeasance or a serious violation of
the law and needs immediate investigation, the Control
Yuan can certainly proceed with the probe. <top>
16. Is the Control Yuan a quasi-judicial
organization?
No, the Control Yuan is not a quasi-judicial organization.
Generally speaking, the term of quasi-judicial organization
refers to an administrative organization of joint consultation
that in addition to its administrative power possesses
incomplete judicial power, such as the rental and tenancy
mediation committee of a township or a county. According
to the Farmland Rent Reduction Statute, all disputes
about farmland rents must be mediated first by a township
rental and tenancy committee. If the township committee
fails to reach a settlement, the case should be referred
to the county committee for continuing mediation. Only
when the dispute cannot be settled by mediation, can
it be referred to a judicial organization for disposal.
If the mediation succeeds, the settlement is as valid
as a verdict passed down by a court, so the dispute
over private rights can be declared as settled. Therefore,
such rental and tenancy committees are what we mean
quasi-judicial organizations. Similarly, the mediation
committees of townships are also quasi-judicial organizations.
But the Control Yuan is the highest control organ of
the nation that exercises the powers of control provided
by the Constitution and its related laws. It is neither
an organization of joint consultation, nor does it possess
incomplete judicial power. Consequently, the Control
Yuan is not a quasi-judicial organization. <top>
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Regulations
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