Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) More Taiwanese citizens have petitioned for constitutional interpretations over the past 10 years, indicating that Taiwanese people have grown increasingly aware of their constitutional rights, Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw said Friday.

In a report on constitutional rights delivered at the Presidential Office on Taiwan’s Constitutional Day, Lai said the number of petitions filed seeking constitutional interpretations from the grand justices stood at 171, from 1999 to 2009.

Of those petitions, 76 percent or 130 petitions were filed by Taiwanese people.

That marks a big increase from the 1967-1976 period when a total of 24 petitions were filed, all of which were filed by governmental organizations, according to Lai.

With their civic and constitutional rights awareness gradually rising after Martial Law was lifted in Taiwan in 1987, Lai said, the people of Taiwan had filed more petitions for constitutional explanations by the grand justices.

Many of those petitions were filed over controversies concerning the rights, duties or jurisdiction of differing public offices, Lai said.

“Seeking constitutional interpretations is most effective way of settling disputes, ” he told his audience, who included President Ma Ying-jeou.

(By Garfie Lee and Deborah Kuo)

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