The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' twig'' usually ...

of the

government of the Republic of China The Government of the Republic of China, is the national government of the Republic of China whose ''de facto'' territory currently consists of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other island groups in the "free area". Governed by the De ...

(Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

(lower house) formed the national tricameral parliament. It functioned similarly to an

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

of a bicameral legislature, though it formed its own separate branch and was indirectly elected by provincial or municipal legislatures with 178 senators elected. Designed as a hybrid of

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

and ombudsman by Taiwanese law, the Control Yuan holds the following powers:See Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 7, available at * '' Impeachment'': The Control Yuan has the power to impeach government officials. Successfully impeached cases then go to the Disciplinary Court of the Judicial Yuan for adjudication. Impeachment of the President and the Vice President of the Republic follows a different procedure and does not go through the Control Yuan. * ''Censure'': The Control Yuan also has the power to censure a government official. The censure is sent to the official's superior officer. * '' Audit'': The Executive Yuan (

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

) presents the annual budget to the Control Yuan each year for audit. *''Corrective Measures'': The Control Yuan, after investigating the work and facilities of the Executive Yuan and its subordinate organs, may propose corrective measures to the Executive Yuan or its subordinate organs for improvement after these measures are examined and approved by the relevant committees. According to the current

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 princip ...

, the Control Yuan shall consist of 29 members. One member shall be the President of the Control Yuan, and another shall be the Vice President. All members, including the President and Vice President of Control Yuan, shall be nominated by the President of the Republic and approved by

(the parliament of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

). Members serve with a term limit of six years.

Structure

Members composition

The Control Yuan consists of a council with 29 members, including a President and a Vice President and the National Audit Office. All 29 members and the auditor-general are nominated by the President of the Republic and approved by

for 6-year terms. The incumbent 6th Control Yuan was nominated by President Tsai Ing-wen on June 22, 2020 and later confirmed by

on July 17, 2020. Members inaugurated on August 1, 2020 and their terms expire on July 31, 2026.

Council and committees

The council of the Yuan, chaired by the Yuan President, is divided into a number of committees to exercise the Yuan's supervision power. No member of the Control Yuan can hold another public office or profession while serving in the branch (according to Article 103 of the constitution), and members must be able to perform absent of partisan control or influence. Members can vote in no more than three committees and can join additional committees as non-voting members. Each committee can have up to 14 members and usually elects a convenor amongst themselves to chair committee meetings. The following responsibilities were also assigned by various acts. * Anti-Corruption: The Anti-Corruption Committee is a seven-member committee, which cannot include the President of Vice President of the Control Yuan, which deals with asset declarations by government officials, recusals due to conflict of interest, and political donations. * Examination Invigilation: The Control Yuan also appoints proctors to supervise examinations for civil servants.

National Human Rights Commission

The National Human Rights Committee is a ten-member committee under the Control Yuan which investigates human rights abuses, proposes human rights laws, compiles an annual report and promotes human rights education. The President of the Control Yuan must be a member of the committee. The committee was established by the National Human Rights Committee Organic Law on 10 December 2019.

Administrative Appeal Committee

An Administrative Appeal Committee, operated under the aegis of the Control Yuan but consisting of both members and non-members of the Control Yuan, considers administrative appeals which are inappropriate to both the Control Yuan proper and the Ministry of Audit.

National Audit Office

The National Audit Office is headed by an auditor-general who is nominated by the President of the Republic and appointed with consent of

(parliament), exercises the Control Yuan's power of audit. It consists of five departments: * General public affairs audit department * National defense expenditures audit department * Special public affairs audit department * State-run corporations and government-owned businesses audit department * Financial affairs audit department (also in charge of supervising local government audits) In addition, most local governments have established the Audit Divisions/Offices, these serve as the subordinate agencies of the National Audit Office. Currently, 21 local governments of the 22 administrative divisions of Taiwan have Audit Divisions/Offices (except Lienchiang County).

Impeachment procedure and notable cases

The Control Yuan is responsible to investigate possible violations on laws and regulations of public servants and raise impeachments if needed. Investigations are initiated by at least two members, and investigation committees must consist of at least nine members of the Control Yuan. The impeachment cases would be determined by a majority vote by members of investigation committee. Successful impeachment cases will then be forwarded to the Disciplinary Court () under the Judicial Yuan for adjudication. However, the impeachment of the President or Vice President shall be initiated by

(parliament) and adjudicate by the Constitutional Court under the Judicial Yuan. Details regarding impeachment proceedings are stipulated in the Enforcement Rules of the Control Act. * On 19 February 2020, the Control Yuan impeached five military personnel which it deemed responsible for a F-16 Fighter aircraft crash on June 4, 2018 that killed all on board. The case was forwarded to the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission in the Judicial Yuan to determine the punishment. * On 4 June 2019, Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉), a top aide of former Hualien County commissioner

Fu Kun-chi Fu Kun-chi (; born 8 May 1962) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2009, when he assumed the Hualien County magistracy. In September 2018, Fu was removed from the latter office, as the Supreme Court is ...

, Lin Chin-hu (林金虎), a county government employee, and media section chief Huang Wei-jun (黃微鈞), were impeached for bribery using $5.26 million in public funds. Both were found guilty on 18 February 2020; Hsieh was given two demerits and fined $100,000 NTD, Lin was handed a 10% pay reduction for a year, and Huang was given one demerit and fined $100,000 NTD. * On 15 January 2019,

Kuan Chung-ming Kuan Chung-ming (; born 15 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and academic. He was the last minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development from 2013 to 2014 and served as the first minister of the succeeding government agency, ...

, the president of National Taiwan University, was impeached for violating a law prohibiting public servants from working other jobs. The case was forwarded to the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission in the Judicial Yuan to determine whether he was guilty and the appropriate punishment. Kuan was found guilty on 2 September 2019 and officially reprimanded.

History

Constitutional theory

The concept of Control Yuan was introduced by Sun Yat-sen's '' Three Principles of the People''. The theory proposed a

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typica ...

into five branches (). Sun Yat-sen demonstrated the benefit of separating the supervision and auditing power from the

legislature A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

by the designation of the state organs of the Imperial China. He quotes the long tradition of supervision used in past dynasties, ranging from the ''Censor'' () established by the Qin () and Han () dynasties to the ''tái'' () and ''jiàn'' () offices established under the Sui () and Tang () dynasties (''tai'' were selected to supervise civil officials and military officers, while ''jian'' were selected to counsel the emperor on supervisory matters) to the Board of Public Censors () selected under the Ming () and Qing () dynasties. Most of these offices also operated local and provincial branches to supervise local governments. Under the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, the Board of Public Censors consisted of forty or fifty members, and two presidents, one of Manchu ancestry and the other of Chinese ancestry. They were, in theory, allowed to send one censor to participate in the meetings of all government boards. The Board's powers were minimized by the time of political flux which preceded the end of the Empire. However, the 1947

Constitution of the Republic of China The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, ...

has many influence from the resolutions of the Political Consultative Assembly held between the Chinese Nationalist Party (

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

) and the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

. Carsun Chang, the major author of the Constitution draft in the Political Consultative Assembly, considered the fact that the supervision and auditing power is traditionally held by the

, and also the proposal of

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single po ...

from the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

in the drafting process. He designed the Control Yuan to be a

chamber of parliament A legislative chamber or house is a deliberative assembly within a legislature which generally meets and votes separately from the legislature's other chambers. Legislatures are usually unicameral, consisting of only one chamber, or bicamera ...

that is indirectly elected by the provincial legislatures of China. The Control Yuan has some similarities to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

, which allocated a similar number of seats to each

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of China and holds the power to confirm many important public positions in the Judicial Yuan and Examination Yuan appointed by the President of the Republic.

– Chapter IX, Article 91: "The Control Yuan shall be composed of Members who shall be elected by Provincial and Municipal Councils, the local Councils of Mongolia and Tibet, and Chinese citizens residing abroad. Their numbers shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions: * Five Members from each province; * Two Members from each municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan; * Eight Members from Mongolian Leagues and Banners * Eight Members from Tibet; and * Eight Members from Chinese citizens residing abroad." In the 1947 constitution, the Control Yuan, together with National Assembly and

, thus formed chambers of a tricameral parliament according to the Judicial Yuan's interpretation number 76 of the Constitution in 1957. The Control Yuan was given the power to request documents from other government agencies and investigate them for violations of law or neglect as under Sun Yat-sen's ideology. The auditor-general was considered elected by the Control Yuan, who shall be nominated by the President of the Republic with consent of the

, who was responsible for submitting reports on government budgets. Finally, the Control Yuan had confirmation power for the President, Vice President and members of the Judicial Yuan and Examination Yuan.

Establishment and relocation to Taiwan

In the early republican era, the Beiyang government was in favor of the traditional three-branch form of

. However, the weak

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

soil and the later Warlord Era suppresses the implementation of this constitutional ideology. After a successful Northern Expedition campaign, the

secured its leadership in China and started to build the Nationalist government according to Sun Yat-sen's ideology. Five branches (''Yuan''s) were created under the

party-state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

administration. During this time, the Auditing Yuan () was established in February 1928, but in February 1931, the Control Yuan was established and the Auditing Yuan was downgraded to the current ministry-level National Audit Office within the Control Yuan. The creation of Control Yuan on 16 February 1931 was the last establishment of the five-''Yuan''s. However, the 1947

, although retaining the architecture of the five-branch government, changed the Control Yuan to be a

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

chamber. Under the constitution, members of the Yuan (by now senators ''de facto'') were elected from regional

s: 5 from each

, 2 from each direct-administered municipality, 8 from

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

(by 1948 only the Inner Mongolian provinces were represented), 8 from

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, and 8 from the overseas Chinese communities. As originally envisioned both the President and Vice President of the Control Yuan were to be elected by and from the members like the speaker of many other

ary bodies worldwide. Following the promulgation of the ''Constitution'', the 178 first Control Yuan members elected by the regional

s convened in

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. ...

on June 4, 1948. The first Control Yuan then confirmed the leaders and members of the first Judicial Yuan and Examination Yuan. The transition from

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

Nationalist government to constitutional government was hence completed. However, a year later, the

-led

lost the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

and retreated to

in December 1949.

was under Japanese rule before August 15, 1945. As a result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

Armed Forces occupied

on behalf of the Allies. The government established Taiwan Province to mark its annexation of

. There were 104 members who retreated to Taiwan with the government, including 5 deputies from Taiwan. The Control Yuan occupied the former governmental building of Taihoku Prefecture in Japanese era. The term of the retreated members was extended indefinitely until "re-election is possible in their original electoral district." During this era, the first Control Yuan members continued to conduct sessions in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

until they were ordered to retire by the Judicial Yuan (Constitutional Court) in 1991. With the reduction of members due to age, elections were held from 1969 to 1986 to elect new members to the Yuan from Taiwan. Until 1993, the Control Yuan's legislative work was limited to helping to audit the national budget, which would then be presented to the Legislative Yuan. The other actions the then chamber took were its impeachment, confirmation and censure powers, applied whenever necessary.

Democratization

Democratization took place in

starting late 1980s; the movement resulted in a series of constitutional amendment known as the Additional Articles of the Constitution. On May 27, 1992, the second amendment removed the Control Yuan from

chambers and its members removed from their legislative duties. Decision process of leaders and members of the Control Yuan follows a similar pattern of Judicial Yuan and Examination Yuan. These officials were nominated by the President of the Republic and confirmation by the National Assembly. The National Assembly was another

chamber that can hold the confirmation process to maintain the

. On 18 July 1997, by the 4th constitutional amendment, the procedure to impeach the President and Vice President of the Republic was transferred out from the Control Yuan. In this amendment, presidential impeachment shall be initiated by

and voted by the National Assembly. However, the later political developments in

has inclined to simplify the

to one chamber. The

was the surviving chamber and the National Assembly was then abolished. Since 25 April 2000, confirmation of leaders and members of the Control Yuan are transferred to

, together with the confirmation of similar officials of Judicial Yuan and Examination Yuan. At the end of 2004, President Chen Shui-bian sent a list of nominees to positions in the Control Yuan to the

for approval. The coalition of

and People First Party, which then held a majority in the Legislative Yuan, refused to ratify President Chen's nominees and demanded that he submit a new list. The political deadlock that resulted stopped the Control Yuan from functioning from February 2005 to July 2008. The situation resolved after

's candidate Ma Ying-jeou was elected as the President in

2008 Taiwanese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 22 March 2008. Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou won with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. Along with the 2008 legislative election, Ma's landslide ...

and

won the supermajority of Legislative Yuan seats in

2008 Taiwanese legislative election The 2008 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 12 January 2008 for members of the Legislative Yuan. It was the first Legislative Yuan election after the constitutional amendments of 2005, which extended term length from three to four years, ...

. Mr. Wang Chien-shien was then appointed to be its President under the Ma Ying-jeou administration. In 2016, Democratic Progressive Party's candidate Tsai Ing-wen was elected as the President in 2016 Taiwanese presidential election and Democratic Progressive Party won the majority of Legislative Yuan seats in 2016 Taiwanese legislative election. On 10 December 2019, the

passed the National Human Rights Committee Organic Law (國家人權委員會組織法), which established the National Human Rights Committee under the Control Yuan. Its duties include investigating human rights abuses, proposing human rights laws, compiling an annual report, and educational promotion of human rights, in accordance with the Paris Principles. The committee will consist of 10 members, one of which is the President of the Control Yuan who heads the committee. It launched on August 1, 2020, with former democracy activist Chen Chu as president.

member Justin Huang was discussed as a potential vice-president, but he declined the position after receiving criticism from both the KMT for crossing party lines without consultation and the DPP for his role in the construction of the

Taitung Miramar Resort Taitung Miramar Resort () is a BOT (Build Operate Transfer) development on Shanyuan (杉原灣)/Fudafudak in Beinan Township, Taitung County, Taiwan. In 2004, a contract was signed by Miramar Resort Taitung Ltd (majority owned by Huang Chun-fa) a ...

while he was county magistrate, for which the county government was censured by the Control Yuan.

Elections and terms

The

-led

retreated to

in 1949, the year following the elections after the enactment of the 1947 constitution. As the

government continues to claim sovereignty over

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...

, the term limit of the original Members of the Control Yuan was extended until "re-election is possible in their original electoral districts." In response to the increasing democracy movement in

, limited supplementary elections were held in the

Free Area The free area of the Republic of China, also known as the "Taiwan Area of the Republic of China", "Tai-Min Area (Taiwan and Fujian)" or simply the "Taiwan Area", is a term used by the government of the Republic of China (ROC) to refer to ...

(

) starting 1969. Members elected in these supplementary elections served together with those who were elected in 1948. This situation remained until a Constitutional Court ( Judicial Yuan) ruling on June 21, 1991 that ordered the retirement of all members with extended terms by the end of 1991.中央選舉委員會歷次選舉摘要－監察委員選舉
/ref> Timeline of Control Yuan elections and terms ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = right:80 left:100 bottom:60 top:10 DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1948 till:01/01/2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom Colors = id:gridmajor value:gray(0.2) id:gridminor value:gray(0.9) id:chn value:blue legend:Elected_in_mainland_China_and_Taiwan id:spp value:skyblue legend:Supplementary_members_elected_in_Taiwan id:twn value:drabgreen legend:Appointed_by_the_President_in_Taiwan ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gridmajor unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1950 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gridminor unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1948 BarData = bar:1st text:1st bar:sp0 text:1st, supp bar:sp1 text:1st, 1st supp bar:sp2 text:1st, 2nd supp bar:sp3 text:1st, 3rd supp bar:2nd text:2nd bar:3rd text:3rd bar:4th text:4th bar:5th text:5th bar:6th text:6th PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:till fontsize:m bar:1st from: 06/04/1948 till: 12/31/1991 color:chn text:178 seats (1948) bar:sp0 from: 02/01/1970 till: 12/31/1991 color:spp text:2 seats bar:sp1 from: 02/01/1973 till: 01/31/1981 color:spp text:15 seats bar:sp2 from: 02/01/1981 till: 01/31/1987 color:spp text:32 seats bar:sp3 from: 02/01/1987 till: 01/31/1993 color:spp text:32 seats bar:2nd from: 02/01/1993 till: 01/31/1999 color:twn text:29 seats bar:3rd from: 02/01/1999 till: 01/31/2005 color:twn text:29 seats bar:4th from: 08/01/2008 till: 07/31/2014 color:twn text:29 seats bar:5th from: 08/01/2014 till: 07/31/2020 color:twn text:29 seats bar:6th from: 08/01/2020 till: 07/31/2026 color:twn text:29 seats

President and Vice President of the Control Yuan

Before the 1947 Constitution

The President and Vice President of the Control Yuan in the Nationalist government era were appointed by the

(Nationalist Party).

1947 Constitution

The Control Yuan was a chamber of

under the 1947 ''

''. The President and Vice President of the Control Yuan were elected by and from the members like the speaker of many other

ary bodies.

1992 Constitution amendment

Since the 1992 ratification of the constitutional amendment, the Control Yuan was reorganized from a chamber of

to an independent agency that still performs most of its designated constitutional powers. Since the 4th term, the President and Vice President of the Control Yuan, together with other members, were nominated by the President of the Republic and approved by the

(the now-unicameral parliament of

Comparable agencies in other countries

References

External links

* * {{Taiwan topics 1931 establishments in China 1949 disestablishments in China 1945 establishments in Taiwan Government agencies established in 1931 Government audit Ombudsman posts Defunct upper houses Supreme audit institutions