The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) submitted the legal opinion of Manfred Nowak, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, to Taiwan’s Constitutional Court (TCC). During an oral argument session concerning the constitutionality of the death penalty, Constitutional Justice Sheng-Lin Jan questioned the NHRC about the Ministry of Justice’s claim that no international reviews had indicated that the death penalty violated international human rights conventions. In response, Commissioner Kao Yung-cheng stated that the International Review Committees (IRC) have consistently pointed out that Taiwan should abolish the death penalty. He further highlighted that in 2022, the committees emphasized that the death penalty constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment through seven key points.
Professor Manfred Nowak, an esteemed expert in international law and human rights at the University of Vienna and three-time Chair of the ICCPR Panel for reviewing Taiwan’s national reports, addressed the aforementioned question on April 30, 2022, by writing a comprehensive legal opinion. Nowak requested the NHRC to submit it to Taiwan’s Constitutional Court for consideration. The NHRC has formally sent Nowak’s opinion and a translated reference to the Constitutional Court. The following is a summary of the opinion's key points:
- In its most recent concluding observations and recommendations, dated May 13, 2022, the IRC expressed its strongest dissatisfaction with the Government of Taiwan’s repeated unfounded arguments and failure to fulfill its commitments.
- The main argument of the Government of Taiwan for not implementing international law and the repeated recommendations of the IRC is the alleged support of the death penalty by public opinion. This justification is very weak as most countries that have abolished the death penalty do so against public opinion, which mistakenly believes in its deterrent effect. In reality, the public often only believes in retributive or revenge criminal justice. However, such practices do not comply with international human rights laws and standards.
- The Government of Taiwan’s blatant disregard for its international human rights obligations and its repeated dismissal of objective recommendations made by human rights experts invited by the government has motivated 37 death row inmates in Taiwan to file this landmark constitutional case concerning the constitutionality of the death penalty. Like other Constitutional Courts in South Africa, Hungary, and many other States, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan, therefore, has the historical chance to put an end to this cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.