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| The Kaohsiung County Council’s Organizational Self-governance Act |
Promulgated following the amendment as per a Ministry of the Interior ordinance, ref. Taiwan (1999) Interior, Civil No. 8891715, dated Dec. 24, 1999
Promulgated following the amendment made to the provisions of Article 12 through Article 22 as per a Ministry of the Interior ordinance, Ref. Taiwan (2000) Interior, Civil No. 8509933, dated Dec. 27, 2000.
Promulgated following the amendment made to the provisions of Article 12, item 28, as per a Ministry of the Interior ordinance, Ref. Taiwan (2001) Interior, Civil No. 9007274, dated Dec. 24, 2001. |
| Chapter I General provisions |
| Article 1 |
The Self-governance Act has been drafted and finalized in accordance with stipulations set forth under par 2, Article 3 of the Local Legislature Body’s Organization Criteria. |
| Chapter II Council members |
| Article 2 |
The councilmen/women of the Kaohsiung County Council (the Council) are to be elected from county residents as required by law, who are to serve a four-year tenure, and reelection may allow the tenure be extended accordingly. |
| Article 3 |
The number of the council members, based on the council member quota elected on Jan. 24, 1998, totals to 54 council members; when deemed necessary of an increase following a population change, the adjustment of the quota shall heed to stipulations set forth under Article 6 of the Local Legislature Body’s Organization Criteria. |
| Article 4 |
The council members, upon the expiry of the previous term, shall be sworn in to office as per the Sworn-in Act. Those who refuse to be sworn in by failing to abide by the stipulations shall be deemed as not having been inaugurated.
The foresaid sworn-in inaugural ceremonies shall be held at the council, as commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, and that a meeting char is to be nominated among the council members to preside the function.
The nomination meeting shall be presided by senior council members; in the instance of identical seniority, one that is senior in age shall preside the function.
Within ten days following being elected, all supplementary-elected council members are to be sworn in to office by the council in accordance with stipulations provided by the Sworn-in Act. |
| Article 5 |
In the wake of a council member’s resignation, dismissal or death, the council shall voluntarily filed a written report with the Ministry of the Interior pending further verification, and shall also notify the county government in writing. |
| Chapter III Council speaker and council vice speaker |
| Article 6 |
The council is to appoint one each council speaker and vice speaker whom are to be nominated or impeached among the council members through non-nominal balloting; however, no impeachment is to be sought to council members who hold office for less than a year. |
| Article 7 |
The election of the council speaker and vice speaker shall be held immediately following the council members’ inaugural ceremonies, and the nominations shall be heard by over half the number of the total council present, and the candidates receiving the ballots over half the number of the council members present shall be the nominees. When the election should fall through, a second ballot shall be staged, and the candidates receiving the most number of ballots shall be the nominees; in the instance of a tie in the ballot count, a random draw is to be staged to determinate the nominees, and the same also applies to a supplementary election.
Of the foresaid election, where the number of the council members present should fall below the quorum, a following election time shall be set, and notified to all council members. At the third election, an election may be held by the actual number of council turnout when the number of attending council members reaches over one-third of the council seats, and the candidates receiving the most ballots shall be the nominees; in the instance of a tie in the ballot count, a random draw is to be staged to determine the nominees. The second and third elections shall be staged on the date of the council members’ inaugural ceremonies.
Upon being elected, the council speaker and vice speaker shall be sworn to office according to the Sworn Act. Those who refuse to be sworn in by failing to abide by the stipulations shall be deemed as not having been inaugurated. The election cited in the preceding par 1 and the foresaid sworn in inauguration shall be presided by the meeting chair nominated under par 2 of Article 4. |
| Article 8 |
Of the election or impeachment of the council speaker and vice speaker, the council is to appoint three to seven individuals as the custodians, who are charged with ballot casting and ballot counting work, and one of whom is to be appointed as the head custodian. The council members are to nominate three to five individuals as the auditors, who are charged with monitoring the ballot casting, ballot counting work, and one of whom is to be nominated as the head auditor. |
| Article 9 |
The particulars governing the council speaker and vice speaker’s election or impeaching balloting may commensurate to stipulations set forth under Article 62 of the Civil Servants’ Election and Impeachment Law.
The head custodian, as joined by the head auditor, shall render the foresaid invalid ballots; when reckoning of a dispute, it is to be voted by the entire auditors. When the voting results should result in a tie with favorable and unfavorable opinions, such election ballots or impeachment ballots shall be deemed valid. |
| Article 10 |
The council shall be responsible for all logistics pertaining to the printing of the council speaker and vice speaker’s election or impeachment ballots and relevant election/impeachment administration.
The council, upon concluding validating the county speaker and vice speaker’s election or impeachment ballots, shall seal the valid ballots and invalid ballots separately, and retain the ballots for safekeeping over a six-month period, following the head administrator, joined by the head auditor, has applied whose endorsement seal at the adjacent pages, which no individual may unseal except by a prosecutor or through a court order. In the wake of any litigation, the ballots shall be placed under safekeeping until such time that the litigation proceedings have been concluded. |
| Article 11 |
Of results of the council speaker and vice speaker election, the council shall compile one each of an election result manifest and an appointees’ roster, which shall be filed with the Ministry of the Interior for a certificate of appointment be issued, and notify also the county government in writing.
Of results of an impeachment of the council speaker, vice speaker, the council shall voluntarily file the results with the Ministry of the Interior, and notify also the county government in writing. |
| Article 12 |
The council speaker is to overall council administration. When the council speaker should be indisposed to execute whose duties, the vice speaker shall act on whose behalf. In the instance where the council speaker and vice speaker should be indisposed to carry out whose duties, a representative is to be appointed by the council speaker, and in the absence of a representative appointed, one is to be nominated among the council members within fifteen days to act on whose behalf; when no nomination has been made at the end of the term, a senior council member is to act on whose behalf, and when there is a tie in seniority, one that is senior in age shall act on whose behalf. |
| Article 13 |
The resignation by the council speaker, vice speaker shall be presented to the general assembly in writing, which shall formally take effect when the resignation letter has been presented as a meeting report.
The foresaid resignation, when presented during the council’s recess, may be presented by calling an interim meeting as per stipulated, depending on the actual needs. |
| Article 14 |
The resignation, dismissal, or death of the council speaker or vice speaker shall be voluntarily filed with the Ministry of the Interior at once, and notify also the county government in writing.
When either the position of the council speaker or the vice speaker should be vacant, the council shall motion for a supplementary election. When both the positions of the council speaker and vice speaker should be vacant concurrently, the Ministry of the Interior is to appoint a council member to carry out the council speaker’s duties in the interim, with an interim meeting to be staged within thirty days from the voluntary filing date for a supplementary election be held.
The resignation or dismissal of the council speaker calls for a formal handover proceeding, and in the absence of a handover or in the wake of a death incident, the council vice speaker shall conduct the handover on whose behalf. |
Chapter IV Official responsibilities |
| Article 15 |
The council’s official responsibilities are as follows,
- To motion on the county’s chapters and regulation.
- To motion on the county’s budgets.
- To motion on the county’s special taxation levy, interim taxation levy and provisional taxation levy.
- To motion on the liquidation of county assets.
- To motion on the county government’s organizational self-governance act and its subsidiary entities’ organizational self-governance act.
- To motion on the county’s propositions.
- To review the county’s audit review report.
- To motion on resolutions presented by county councils.
- To receive the people’s petitions.
- To execute other responsibilities so empowered by law or by the higher laws and regulations.
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Chapter V Council meetings |
| Article 16 |
The council meetings, except the founding general assembly of each term, shall call upon a scheduled general meeting in the interval of every six months, which is to be called upon by the council speaker. In the absence of meeting called upon by the council speaker as required by law, the vice speaker may call upon a meeting; in the instance where no meeting has been called upon by the vice speaker, an individual is to be nominated with a quorum of exceeding half the number of board seats upon deducting the absentees from the total council seats to summon a meeting. |
| Article 17 |
When the council convenes, the council speaker is to act as meeting chair, and when the council speaker should be indisposed to attend the meeting, the vice speaker shall act as meeting chair, and in the instance where both the speaker and vice speaker should be indisposed to attend the meeting, an individual is to be nominated among the attending council members to act as meeting chair. |
| Article 18 |
The council is to appoint a proceeding board to review and finalize the council session dates and other procedural related measures, and is to appoint various council boards to review the propositions.
Of the foresaid council session dates that fall under a scheduled date, the hearing dates may not exceed one-fifth of the total session dates.
The council’s council session dates shall be filed with the Ministry of the Interior pending further verification. |
| Article 19 |
If, after deduction of absentees, the number of attending members is less than half of the total number of council members, the meeting may not take place. Unless otherwise specified in this self-governance act, motions are considered passed when more than half of the attending council members agree and vice versa. In the event that a motion is one vote short of passing, the chair may join and give one vote to pass the motion, or decline to reject the motion. Administration reports and interrogation sessions do not need to be postponed if the attendance does not reach meeting requirements. |
| Article 20 |
At each session of the council’s scheduled meeting or interim meeting, when a meeting should fall through due to failing to each the quorum, the meeting shall be postponed to the next meeting session sequentially according to the initially scheduled dates. When a meeting should fall through for the second time, the reason of which shall be notified to all council members prior to the third session. When staging a meeting for the third time, a meeting may be called upon according to the number of council members present, when the total number of council members present upon deducting the absentees exceeds one-third of the council seats. A meeting staged for the second time that also falls on the council’s final meeting session shall be deemed as the third time. |
| Article 21 |
All council meetings are to be staged openly. However, a confidential meeting may be staged as proposed by the meeting chair or as motioned by three or more council members, or as requested by the presiding personnel in accordance with stipulations cited under Article 49 of the Local Legislative System Act, and duly motioned through the meeting. |
| Article 22 |
When the council convenes, the meeting chair shall extricate himself/herself on propositions that bear a contingent interest to him/her; council members may not partake in the review and motioning processes on propositions that bear a contingent interest to said council members. |
| Article 23 |
The council’s meeting motioning procedure, except that stipulated by the Self-governance Act and the Council’s meeting guidelines, shall heed to stipulations set by the meeting guidelines.
The foresaid meeting guidelines shall be limited to governing the specified meeting measures, which are to be drafted by the council, and subject to a voluntary filing with the Ministry of the Interior, and notifying also the county government in writing. |
| Chapter VI Discipline |
| Article 24 |
The council is to appoint a disciplinary board to review disciplinary cases; its launching measure shall be drafted and finalized by the council, and subject to a voluntary filing with the Ministry of the Interior pending further verification. |
| Article 25 |
When the council is in session, the meeting chair is to maintain the session order. In the wake of obstructing the session meeting rules or any other act of obstructing the order, the meeting chair may issue warning or stop such act, and may ban a council member from speaking, and may also issue a reprimand in a severe scenario.
Of the foresaid reprimand, it is to be presented by the disciplinary board for motioning by the general assembly, and to be announced by the meeting hair; the means of reprimand are as follows,
- Verbal apology.
- Written apology.
- Reprimand.
- Suspension from attending the council meeting for a certain period.
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Chapter VII Administrative units |
| Article 26 |
The council is to appoint a secretary general who is to respond to council affairs as per the council speaker’s order, and to command and supervise whose subordinate employees. |
| Article 27 |
The council is to appoint the following sections, offices, which are charged with the following undertakings,
- Council meeting section: To oversee the compiling and drafting of session meeting dates, meeting preparation, record sorting, responding to proposition and petitions by the people, compiling and drafting of meeting minute, etc.
- General affairs section: To oversee the management of cashiering, assets, property, vehicles, building structures, gatherings, word processing, files, publication, janitor and employee benefits management, etc.
- Administration section: to grasp information management, meeting communication, press contact, public relations, research and development, monitoring and evaluation, the public service center, ec.
- Legal office: to grasp legal and regulatory measures.
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| Article 28 |
The council is to appoint supervisors, secretaries, specialist, section members, assistants and clerks. |
| Article 29 |
The council is to appoint an accounting office, which is to be staffed with head accountant, section members who are to execute the fiscal accounting, accounting, and also to process the statistics as stipulated by law. |
| Article 30 |
The council is to appoint a personnel office, which is to be staffed with supervisor, section members who are to execute the human resource administration as stipulated by law. |
| Article 31 |
The official positions and quota on various levels as cited in the Self-governance Act shall be defined through an organization chart.
The position of the various job titles shall heed to stipulations set by the position chart. |
| Article 32 |
When the council is in session, its administrative staff may be dispatched from the county government. |
Chapter VIII Supplementary provisions |
| Article 33 |
The council’s hierarchical responsibility scheme is to be implemented following the approval by the council speaker. |
| Article 34 |
The Self-Governance act is to be promulgated on the date of the announcement. |
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Prescriptions
