Wang Hsin-fu and 36 other death row inmates filed a petition with the Constitutional Court against the Supreme Court’s allegedly unconstitutional application of Criminal Code Article 271, Paragraph 1 and the closely associated Article 33, Subparagraph 1 in criminal judgment 2011 Tai-Shang-Zi No. 3905. The petitioners requested preliminary injunction, a constitutional review by the Constitutional Court, and a reversal of Judicial Yuan Interpretations No. 194, 263, and 476.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Commissioner Kao Yung-cheng, who attended the court hearings as an expert agency and gave an expert opinion on behalf of the commission, reiterated the NHRC’s belief that death penalty is ineffective in stopping crimes, a belief corroborated by universal human rights standards, international human rights institutions, and research by human rights scholars. Kao added that the state has the burden of proof in demonstrating the deterrent effect of capital punishment. Without adequate evidence, the argument that the death penalty is constitutional can hardly be sustained. According to Kao, the court should interpret Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as a whole. Although Paragraph 2 does not expressly prohibit the death penalty, Paragraph 1 stipulates, “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” Furthermore, Paragraph 6 states, “Nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any state party to the [ICCPR].”