Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China

"Constitution of Taiwan" redirects here. For the original constitution, see Constitution of the Republic of China.

Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China
Overview
Original title	中華民國憲法增修條文
Jurisdiction	Free area of the Republic of China
Ratified	April 22, 1991
Date effective	May 1, 1991
System	Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
Government structure
Branches	Five (Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Examination, Control)
Head of state	President
Chambers	Unicameral (Legislative Yuan)
Executive	Premier led Executive Yuan
Judiciary	Judicial Yuan
Federalism	Unitary
Electoral college	No
History
First legislature	January 1, 1992 (NA) February 1, 1993 (LY)
Amendments	7
Last amended	June 10, 2005
Commissioned by	National Assembly
Signatories	438 of the 445 remaining delegates elected in 1947, in Taipei
Supersedes	Most articles of the original Constitution of the Republic of China

Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China
Traditional Chinese	中華民國憲法 增修條文
Simplified Chinese	中华民国宪法 增修条文
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá Mínguó Xiànfǎ Zēngxiū Tiáowén Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄈㄚˋ ㄗㄥ ㄒㄧㄡ ㄊㄧㄠˊ ㄨㄣˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jonghwa Min'gwo Shiannfaa Tzengshiou Tyauwen Wade–Giles Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo² Hsien⁴-fa³ Tseng¹-hsiu¹ T'iao²-wen² Tongyong Pinyin Jhonghuá Mínguó Siànfǎ Zengsiou Tiáowún MPS2 Jūnghuá Mínguó Shiànfǎ Tzēngshiōu Tiáuwén Hakka Romanization Chûng-fà Mìn-koet Hien-fap Chen-siû Thiàu-vùn Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok Hiàn-hoat Cheng-siu Tiâu-bûn Tâi-lô Tiong-hûa Bîn-kok Hiàn-huat Tsing-siu Tiâu-bûn

The Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China are the revisions and constitutional amendments to the original constitution to meet the requisites of the nation and the political status of Taiwan. The Additional Articles are usually attached after the original constitution as a separate document. It also has its own preamble and article ordering different from the original constitution.

The Additional Articles are the fundamental law of the present government of the Republic of China on Taiwan since 1991, last amended in 2005.

Features

Free area

Main article: Free area of the Republic of China

The territory controlled by the Government of the Republic of China changed significantly after the Chinese Civil War. This created difficulties in holding elections on a national scale. Thus, the Additional Articles of the Constitution defines the Free Area (Chinese: 自由地區, Mandarin: Zìyóu Dìqū, Taiwanese: Chū-iû Tē-khu, Hakka: Chhṳ-yù Thi-khî) to address the territory and the people under the government's effective jurisdiction. Only the citizens of the Free Area may exercise the full civil and political rights, including suffrage and referendum.

Direct presidential election

See also: Presidential elections in Taiwan

The Additional Articles requires direct election of the President by the citizens of the free area. The first direct presidential election was held in 1996. Under the original constitution, the President was elected indirectly by the National Assembly.

Government reform and reorganization

The Additional Articles of the Constitution reformed the government of the Republic of China from a parliamentary system to a semi-presidential system. The National Assembly is abolished, and its functions are exercised directly by the citizens of the Free area. The five-power governmental structure is retained, though it functions closer to the traditional Western trias politica in practice.

Constitutional referendum

See also: Referendums in Taiwan

The Additional Articles were ratified on June 7, 2005, constitutional amendment or national territory alteration have to be ratified by more than half (50%) of voters of the Free Area in a referendum after passed in Legislative Yuan with a three-quarters majority. Before that, constitutional amendment or national territory alteration were ratified by the National Assembly.

Comparison of the governmental structure

The present structure of government are regulated by the Additional Articles in 2005.

Governmental structure	Original Constitution (1947)	Additional Articles (2005)
Head of state	The President and Vice President are elected separately by the National Assembly for a duration of 6 years	The President and Vice president are elected in pair by the citizens of the Free area for a duration of 4 years, limited to 2 terms.
Head of government	The premier is nominated by the president, and consented by the Legislative Yuan.	The premier is appointed by the president.
Parliament	Tricameralism: National Assembly, Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan. The members of the National Assembly are elected for a duration of 6 years. The members of the Legislative Yuan are elected for a duration of 3 years. The members of the Control Yuan are elected by provincial legislators for a duration of 6 years.	Unicameralism: Legislative Yuan. The National Assembly is abolished, and its functions are exercised directly by the citizens of the Free area. The 113 members of the Legislative Yuan are elected for a duration of 4 years. The Control Yuan, though retained, is now a purely auditory body, and its 29 members are nominated by the president, and confirmed by the Legislative Yuan for a duration of 6 years.
Judiciary	The justices are appointed by the president, with the consent of the Control Yuan. The justices have life tenure.	The 15 justices are appointed by the president, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan for a duration of 8 years.
Local government	Two level system: provincial Level, county Level	The provinces are streamlined. Counties and cities under provinces are subordinated directly to the central government.

Articles

The Additional Articles of the Constitution has been amended seven times since the 1990s.

Amendment	Date ratified	Ratified by	Date effective	President	Note
1st	April 22, 1991	1st National Assembly	May 1, 1991	Lee Teng-hui	Additional Articles established
2nd	May 27, 1992	2nd National Assembly	May 28, 1992	Lee Teng-hui
3rd	July 28, 1994	2nd National Assembly	August 1, 1994	Lee Teng-hui
4th	July 18, 1997	3rd National Assembly	July 21, 1997	Lee Teng-hui
5th	September 3, 1999	3rd National Assembly	September 15, 1999	Lee Teng-hui	Voided by Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 499
6th	April 24, 2000	3rd National Assembly	April 25, 2000	Lee Teng-hui
7th	June 7, 2005	ad hoc National Assembly	June 10, 2005	Chen Shui-bian	Currently in force

Current Additional Articles of the Constitution contains 12 articles:

• Article 1: Referendum on amendment to the Constitution and alteration of the national territory.
• Article 2: President and the vice president.
• Article 3: Premier and the Executive Yuan.
• Article 4: Legislative Yuan.
• Article 5: Judicial Yuan.
• Article 6: Examination Yuan.
• Article 7: Control Yuan.
• Article 8: Remuneration and pay of the members of the Legislative Yuan.
• Article 9: Local governments.
• Article 10: Fundamental national policy.
• Article 11: Cross-Strait relations (rights and obligations between people of the free area and mainland China).
• Article 12: Procedure for amending the Constitution.

See also

• Constitution of the Republic of China
• Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion
• Politics of the Republic of China
• History of Taiwan since 1945

External links

• Additional Articles of the Constitution by the Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan)
• English translation of the Additional Articles of the Constitution (2005 reform)
• English translation of the Constitution by the Taiwan Documents Project.
• Constitution day and constitutional government