我國公民投票法現有主要爭議之研究—兼論行政院公民投票法修正案

Abstract

公民投票是直接民主的一種實踐,在代議民主為主流的經驗世界中,也有不少國家兼採公民投票制度,以補代議民主之不足,並且提昇人民的政治參與。我國自從解嚴以來,隨著社會的逐步開放及政黨政治的出現,民主化的程度可謂大大提高,而民主政治強調以民為主,我國憲法內亦強調著主權在民的概念,公民投票便是實踐直接民主的重要方式;此外,憲法第十七條規定:「人民有選舉、罷免、創制及複決之權。」,第136條中亦有規定:「創制複決兩權之行使,以法律定之。」而公民投票便是創制複決的體現方式之一,因此,要求制定公民投票法的聲音便不斷出現。 在1993年起,立法院開始提案公民投票法草案後,歷經三屆立院的時間,但在強烈的政治因素下,該法案的推動始終是篳路藍縷、屢敗屢戰。然而在2004年總統大選的政治環境因素催化之下,公民投票法快速的在立院三讀通過,我國公民投票法之制訂,雖說是為我國之民主政治的發展向前跨了一大步,但是,我國公民投票法卻是蘊藏著大量的政治因素及政黨利益的考量,因此,在第一次全國性公民投票施行之後,各界陸續有要求修訂公民投票法之聲音。而行政院院會於2004年12月通過了公民投票法修正案,其中重點包括:降低提案及連署門檻、行政院享有提案權與廢除公民審議委員會等要項。 公民投票猶如一把兩面刃,若過於依賴它,則有弱化了代議民主之虞,進而更可能淪為獨裁者或政治性的利用工具;若過於排斥它,則很有可能無法彰顯「主權在民」、「直接民權」的含意,亦無法補代議政治之不足。本文便是本著健全我國之公民投票為目的,對行政院公民投票法修正案中的「降低提案及連署門檻」、「行政院享有提案權」及「廢除公投審議委員會」這三項重大修正進行探討,並援引若干西方公民投票經驗豐富之國家作為比較之對象,配合我國特殊之政治環境加以歸納分析,進而對行政院公民投票法修正案做出建議,以期望使我國公民投票法更臻完備,讓全民擁有一套完善的公民投票機制,真正作自己的主人,發揮主權在民的精神。
It goes without saying that the referendum is one kind of practice form of direct democracy, there are numerous countries adopt referendum system to make up for the deficiencies of representative democracy which is the major trend in empirical world and enhance the political participation of people. Since the government of R.O.C. (Republic of China) migrated its political power to Taiwan in 1949, the opening policy for political party and freedom of speech had made the society more democratic. Democracy is base on “People First” and the concept of “ Sovereign Right of People” are stressed in R.O.C Constitution, therefore, referendum has become the important access to direct democracy. Besides, according to The Article 17 of Constitution, People have rights on election, recall, initiative and referendum and The Article 136 of Constitution, To exercise the rights of initiative and referendum is defined by law, more and more people realize the importance of referendum and aim for enacting the Referendum Act. From 1993, the Referendum Act has been drawn up by the Legislative Yuan and defeated beneath troublous political environment. Nevertheless, because of the Presidential Election in 2004, the Legislative Yuan legislated for the Referendum Act quickly in 2003, and it made great strides for the democracy of in R.O.C. But the Referendum Act had lots of relations with party politics and troublous political environment at that time. After the first time in national referendum took place in March 2004, all circles wanted to amend urgently. And the Executive Yuan navigated the Amendment to the Referendum Act from MOI, and it focused on Consigning Threshold, the Proposal Right, and Referendum Review Committee. The referendum had positive and negative effects, if we depended on it overly, it would become dictatorial political tools, but if we excluded it, we wouldn’t manifest the meaning of“Sovereign Right of People”and“Direct Democracy”.The author compare the experiences of referendum in lots of countries including: Switzerland, Italy, the United status of America, the United Kingdom and French with the Referendum in R.O.C and the Amendment to the Executive Yuan. The author also hopes to give some advices to the Amendment to the Executive Yuan by comparing these countries. It would not only complete the Referendum Act in R.O.C but also let people to be their masters authentically by promoting the spirit of Sovereign Right of People”.

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直接民權, 公民投票, 權力分立, 連署門檻, 提案權, 公民審議委員會, Direct Democracy, Referendum, Consigning Threshold, the Proposal Right, Referendum Review Committee

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