Death row inmate Huang Linkai was executed by gunfire. The Abolitionist Alliance lost the lawsuit and the ruling was confirmed.

Huang Linkai, who strangled his ex-girlfriend surnamed Wang and her mother to death in 2013, was executed by firing squad in January last year. (File photo)

After death row inmate Huang Linkai was executed in January last year, the Alliance for the Abolition of the Death Penalty argued that the Constitutional Court had temporarily imposed sanctions and criminal retrial procedures at that time. It challenged the Ministry of Justice's approval of the illegal execution and filed an administrative lawsuit. In the first instance, the Taipei High Administrative Court held that the execution of the death penalty fell within the scope of criminal judgment execution and that the Administrative Court had no judicial power and ruled to reject it. The Alliance for the Abolition of Death was dissatisfied and filed a protest. The Supreme Administrative Court recently rejected the protest and the entire case was confirmed.

The Taiwan Alliance for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, a corporate body, maintains that the Ministry of Justice’s approval of Huang Linkai’s execution has the direct legal effect of depriving the victim of his life, and is an administrative sanction in nature. The alliance believes that at that time, the Constitutional Court still requested provisional sanctions and the criminal retrial process was in progress, but the Ministry of Justice still approved the execution, which violated relevant regulations and the intent of the Constitutional Court's judgment. It is illegal to file a request to confirm the execution letter.

The first-instance Beijing High Court ruled in May this year that the investigation, prosecution, adjudication and execution of criminal cases all fall within the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Justice reviews whether a death penalty case has been ordered to be executed, which is a criminal judgment execution procedure; if there is a dispute over the execution process, the criminal court should provide relief. The administrative court has no jurisdiction over the matter and will reject it accordingly. After hearing the case, the Supreme Administrative Court agreed with the original ruling. On the 24th, it rejected the protest of the Abolition of Death Alliance and the entire case was confirmed.

Huang Linkai triple-murdered his ex-girlfriend surnamed Wang and her mother in New Taipei City in 2013. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal in 2017 and sentenced him to death. The shooting on January 16, 2025 was the first execution during President Lai Ching-te's term. When the Abolition of Death Alliance initially filed the lawsuit, there were 36 inmates awaiting execution in Taiwan. After deducting the subsequent deaths of two people in custody, there are currently 34 inmates awaiting execution.