Hsu Tzong-li (; born 10 February 1956) is a Taiwanese judge who has served as the President of the

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the judicial branch of the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It runs a Constitution ...

since 2016.

Academic career

Hsu studied at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

and later, in 1986, obtained his PhD in law (Dr.iur.) from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Later that year, he began teaching law at

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private Catholic university in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and re-established in Taiwan in 1961 a ...

and moved to NTU in 1987. He was elected dean of NTU's law school in 2002.

Legal career

He was a member of the Fair Trade Commission from 1995 to 1998 and led the Taiwan Law Society from 2001 to 2003.

Judicial Yuan

Hsu was named a member of the

in 2003 and left the bench in 2011.

As president

Hsu was appointed the President of the Judicial Yuan on 25 October 2016 after his nomination was approved by legislators after a week of questioning. His selection was challenged with allegations of unconstitutionality, as Hsu had previously served on the Judicial Yuan. Article V of the Additional Articles of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

governs judicial appointments, and reads, in part "Each grand justice of the Judicial Yuan shall serve a term of eight years, independent of the order of appointment to office, and shall not serve consecutive terms." The

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...

administration argued that Hsu was reappointed, and never served consecutive terms. The Alliance for Civic Oversight of Supreme Court Justice Nominees approved of Hsu's selection, as did the

New Power Party The New Power Party (NPP) is a political party in Taiwan formed in early 2015. The party emerged from the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014, and advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties, as well as Taiwan indepe ...

. Subsequently, the Legislative Yuan voted 72-2 for him to assume the post and for Tsai Jeong-duen to be the Vice President. Hsu was inaugurated as the President of the Judicial Yuan on 1 November 2016 in a ceremony attended by

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Chen Chien-jen. Hsu appointed Lu Tai-lang () the secretary-general of the Judicial Yuan and Chou Chan-chun () as the head of the Judges Academy.

Political stances

Hsu stated shortly before his confirmation as President of the Judicial Yuan in October 2016 that

Cross-Strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship h ...

should be handled on a special state-to-state basis, comparing them to relations between East and West Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu, Tzong-li 1956 births Living people Taiwanese Presidents of the Judicial Yuan University of Göttingen alumni National Taiwan University alumni National Taiwan University faculty Fu Jen Catholic University faculty