Hsu 

Tzong-li

Professor Hsu Tzong-li is a distinguished constitutional law scholar from Taiwan. From 2016 to 2024, he served as the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Taiwan, making significant contributions to the development of Taiwan’s democratic constitutionalism and the protection of human rights. During his tenure, he participated in numerous landmark cases, such as the same-sex marriage case, in which the Court held that same-sex marriage is protected by the Constitution; the adultery case, in which the criminal offence of adultery was declared unconstitutional; the compelled apology case, in which court judgments ordering defendants to issue public apologies were held unconstitutional; and the death penalty case, in which the Court upheld the constitutionality of capital punishment but ruled that the imposition of the death penalty must comply with the strictest standards of due process, including a unanimous decision by the panel of judges.

Professor Hsu is widely recognized for his scholarly and rigorous approach to adjudication, grounded in a strong commitment to democratic constitutionalism. His work reflects deep engagement with comparative constitutional law, particularly in areas such as the protection of human rights, judicial review, and the role of constitutional courts in transitional democracies. Beyond his judicial service, he has contributed to legal scholarship through lectures, publications, and academic conferences. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the National Taiwan University College of Law and Chair Professor at the Ming Chuan University School of Law. He holds a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Göttingen, Germany.