Taipei: Scholars expressed mixed views on President Lai Ching-te’s nomination of senior prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming as both a justice and the head of Taiwan’s top judicial body during a public hearing on Thursday.

According to Focus Taiwan, while prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including current Justice Ju Fu-meei, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, is unprecedented.

Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao criticized Tsai’s appointment as an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the Legislature, where the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) hold a combined majority, to reject it. Lin argued that Tsai’s appointment would undermine the separation of judicial and prosecutorial powers, citing Tsai’s experience limited to lower court cases.

Tsai, 69, has served as a prosecutor for 29 years and is currently a senior prosecutor at the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from National Taiwan University and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Washington in the United States.

Hu Po-yen, a law professor at Soochow University, described Tsai’s selection as “unique” but noted that over the years, the Constitutional Court has been headed by lawyers, scholars, and politicians. Hu added that, besides interpreting laws with the other justices, the president of the Judicial Yuan has the additional responsibility of overseeing judicial administrative affairs.

KMT lawmaker and former prosecutor Wu Tsung-hsien emphasized that attention should not be directed solely at whether Tsai comes from the prosecutorial system. He stated that the focus should be on whether the nominee has a clear vision for judicial reform and can maintain impartiality while leading the top court.

However, both the KMT and the TPP have questioned Tsai’s competence, citing his experience as limited to prosecutorial affairs, shortly after Lai announced a new list of seven justice nominees at the end of March. In addition to Tsai, the six other nominees include two Supreme Court judges, one senior prosecutor, and three law scholars.

Thursday’s hearing comes three weeks before lawmakers hold a confirmation hearing for the justice nominees. The Legislature previously rejected Lai’s nominees last December, leaving the court with only eight justices after seven completed their eight-year terms on Oct. 31, 2024.