Speaker: Ming-Sung Kuo, University of Warwick School of Law

Title: "Justices Must Be Seen to Be Legitimate”: The (Post-Reform) Legitimacy Challenge of the Taiwan Constitutional Court, 2019-2025

Abstract: In this presentation, I take up one unasked question in the discussion of the legitimacy of judicial review, ‘Can procedural transparency do harm to the legitimacy of constitutional courts?’, by looking into the continued pursuit of judicialization of constitutional interpretation in Taiwan. Through an examination of the Taiwan Constitutional Court’s crisis despite the landmark 2019 procedural reform, I suggest that when a court intervenes actively only on grounds of procedural legitimacy, it may still not be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the people.

About East Asia Program

As Cornell’s hub for research, teaching, and engagement with East Asia, the East Asia Program (EAP) serves as a forum for the interdisciplinary study of historical and contemporary East Asia. The program draws its membership of over 45 core faculty and numerous affiliated faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students from eight of Cornell’s 12 schools and colleges.