弹劾
维基百科，自由的百科全书
按照一些國家的憲法的規定，立法機構在特殊情況下可以不經行政機構同意就可以取消政府的行政職能，彈劾是這樣的行動中的第一個階段。
彈劾通常很少見，這讓人們對它有些誤解，比如把它和自動去職相混淆。彈劾實際上只是法律上的指控，相當於刑法中的起訴。被彈劾的政府官員面臨著立法機構接下來的投票表決（可以由不是提起彈劾的另一個立法機構主持），來決定是否對彈劾的的指控定罪。大多數國家的憲法要求投票結果是壓倒性多數才可定罪。
彈劾的一個起源是英格蘭和威爾士的法律，最近的一次彈劾發生在1806年。世界上很多擁有憲法的國家可以進行彈劾，比如美國、巴西、俄國、菲律賓、愛爾蘭等國家。
彈劾的英文(impeachment)來自拉丁語，是被捉住的意思。這個詞也與現代法語中的動詞empêcher和現代英語中的impede類似，意為「阻止」。中世紀以來常認為該詞源於拉丁文中的impetere（攻擊），但這是錯誤的。Impeachment一詞在法律界更常用於彈劾證人的場合，即對證人的誠實可信提出質疑。
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[编辑] 英國
[编辑] 程序
在英國、議會下議院可以提出彈劾。Any member may make accusations of high treason or high crimes and misdemeanours. The member must support the charges with evidence and move for impeachment. If the Commons carries the motion、the mover receives orders to go to the bar at the House of Lords and to impeach the accused "in the name of the House of Commons、and all the commons of the United Kingdom."
The mover must tell the Lords that the House of Commons will、in due time、exhibit particular articles against the accused、and make good the same. The Commons then usually selects a committee to draw up the charges and create an "Article of Impeachment" for each. (In the case of Warren Hastings、however、the drawing up of the articles preceded the formal impeachment.) Once the committee has delivered the articles to the Lords、replies go between the accused and the Commons via the Lords. If the Commons have impeached a peer、the Lords take custody of the accused、otherwise custody goes to Black Rod. The accused remains in custody unless the Lords allow bail. The Lords set a date for the trial while the Commons appoints managers、who act as prosecutors in the trial. The accused may defend by counsel.
The House of Lords hears the case、with the Lord Chancellor presiding (or the Lord High Steward if the impeachment relates to a peer accused of high treason.) The hearing resembles an ordinary trial: both sides may call witnesses and present evidence. At the end of the hearing the Lord Chancellor puts the question on the first article to each member in order of seniority、commencing with the most junior peer、and ending with himself、and after all have voted、proceeds to deal with any remaining articles similarly. Upon being called、a Lord must rise and declare upon his honour、"Guilty" or "Not Guilty". After voting on all of the articles has taken place、and if the Lords find the defendant guilty、the Commons may move for judgment; the Lords may not declare the punishment until the Commons have so moved. The Lords may then provide whatever punishment they find fit、within the law. A Royal Pardon cannot excuse the defendant from trial、but a Pardon may reprieve a convicted defendant.
[编辑] 歷史
Parliament has held the power of impeachment since mediæval times. Originally、the House of Lords held that impeachment could only apply to members of the peerage (nobles)、as the nobility (the Lords) would try their own peers、while commoners ought to try their peers (other commoners) in a jury. However、in 1681、the Commons declared that they had the right to impeach whomsoever they pleased、and the Lords have respected this resolution.
After the reign of Edward IV、impeachment fell into disuse、the bill of attainder becoming the preferred form of dealing with undesirable subjects of the Crown. However、during the reign of James I and thereafter、impeachments became more popular、as they did not require the assent of the Crown、while bills of attainder did、thus allowing Parliament to resist royal attempts to dominate Parliament. The most recent cases of impeachment dealt with Warren Hastings、 Governor-General of India between 1773 and 1786 (impeached in 1788; the Lords found him not guilty in 1795)、and Henry Dundas、1st Viscount Melville、First Lord of the Admiralty、in 1806 (acquitted). The last attempted impeachment occurred in 1848、when David Urquhart accused Viscount Palmerston of having signed a secret treaty with Imperial Russia and of receiving monies from the Tsar. Palmerston survived the vote in the Commons; the Lords did not hear the case.
[编辑] 現代政治中的彈劾
The procedure has、over time、become rarely used and some legal authorities (such as Halsbury's Laws of England) consider it to be probably obsolete. The principles of "responsible government" require that the Prime Minister and other executive officers answer to Parliament、rather than to the Sovereign. Thus the Commons can remove such an officer without a long、drawn-out impeachment. However、it is argued by some that the remedy of impeachment remains as part of British constitutional law、and that legislation would be required to abolish it. Furthermore、impeachment as a means of punishment for wrongdoing、as distinct from being a means of removing a minister、remains a valid reason for accepting that is continues to be available、at least in theory.
In April 1977 the Young Liberals' annual conference unanimously passed a motion to call on the Liberal leader (David Steel) to move for the impeachment of Ronald King Murray QC、the Lord Advocate. Mr. Steel did not call the motion but Murray (now Lord Murray、a former Senator of the College of Justice of Scotland) agrees that the Commons still have the right to initiate an impeachment motion. On 25 August 2004、Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price announced his intention to move for the impeachment of Tony Blair for his role in involving Britain in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In response Peter Hain、the Commons Leader、insisted that impeachment was obsolete、given modern government's responsibility to parliament. Ironically、Peter Hain had served as president of the Young Liberals when they called for the impeachment of Mr. Murray in 1977.
In 2006 Michael Rose將軍爵士(Hugh Michael Rose)再度啟動彈刻議程，認為時任英國首相的貝理雅由於錯誤帶領國家於2003年參與伊拉克侵略戰，需要為此而負上責任。在美國，亦有人基於類似理由而要求彈劇美國時任總統旳小布殊。
[编辑] 美國
在美國，彈劾可在聯邦一級或州一級發生。在聯邦一級，行政與司法機構的成員均可被彈劾，但彈劾標準不同。在行政機構中，只有被懷疑有「叛國、受賄，或其它針對國家的犯罪行為」的人才能被彈劾。此處叛國與受賄的意思是明確的，但美國憲法並未指明何為「針對國家的犯罪行為(high crime)」。一些評論員據此認為，國會有權自行確定哪些犯罪行為是可導致彈劾的。
在司法機構中，彈劾的範圍要寬得多。美國憲法第三條規定法官在「行為良好(during good behavior)」時可繼續任職，也即國會可以行為不當為由免除法官的職務。
作為「美國的文官(civil officers of the United States)」，國會的成員可被參議院彈劾或被眾議院解職（這發生過一次，是針對參議員William Blount的）。在當代，開除(expulsion)成為處理行為不當的國會成員的主要方式（儘管這仍然很少發生），因為一個議院可以獨立決定開除自己的某個成員，不像彈劾需要牽涉到另一個議院。
彈劾的過程分為兩個步驟。首先，眾議院必須以簡單多數通過彈劾條款(articles of impeachment)（所有50個州的立法機構以及哥倫比亞特區的市立法委員會(city council)也可以針對同級行政機構通過彈劾條款）。彈劾條款中包含了正式的指控內容，一旦通過，就稱被告「正被彈劾(impeached)」。
隨後，由參議院對被告進行審判。如果彈劾案是針對總統的，則審判由首席大法官主持，否則則由副總統（以參議院主席的身份）或參議院臨時主席來主持（這可能也包括對副總統自身的彈劾案，但一般法律中並不允許由同一個人來擔任法官和被告）。
如出席的參議員中有三分之二的多數認定被告有罪，則判定其有罪。如果被告正在任職，則被判有罪後即自動被解職。在判定有罪之後，參議院可以投票決定是否還禁止被告今後再次擔任聯邦職位（包括選舉及任命的職位）。被參議院判罪的被告仍有可能遭到刑事審判。彈劾在被告離職後仍可進行，目的是剝奪其今後重新任職的權利或某些在任職時獲得的待遇（例如退休金）。如果出席的參議員中認定被告有罪的票數不足三分之二，則認定被告無罪，對其不作處罰。
國會一般將彈劾作為僅在極端情況下行使的一種特殊權力。自從1789年以來，眾議院僅啟動過62次彈劾程序（最近的一次是針對Bill Clinton的），遭到過彈劾指控的聯邦官員僅有以下16名：
- 副法官(Associate Justice) Samuel Chase，他在1804年被彈劾。
- 總統Bill Clinton於1998年12月19日被眾議院彈劾，指控其對大陪審團作偽證（以228-206票通過）及阻礙司法公正(obstruction of justice)（以221-212票通過）。另兩項彈劾指控未能通過，包括在Jones案中的另一項偽證指控（以205-229票被否決）和一項濫用職權的指控（以148-285票被否決）。參議院認定其無罪。
- 總統Andrew Johnson於1868年被彈劾。在參議院的投票中，他以一票之差被宣告無罪。
- 一名內閣官員
- 一名參議員
- 另外11名聯邦法官
許多人以為尼克松被彈劾過，但實際上並沒有。儘管眾議院的司法委員會以較大票數優勢通過了對他的彈劾指控，並將這些條款提交給了整個眾議院，但尼克松在眾議院投票之前就辭職了。不過基本上可以肯定，如果他沒有主動辭職的話，他會被眾院彈劾並被參院認定有罪。
尼克松的第一位副總統Spiro Agnew也在被以逃稅和洗錢為由彈劾之前就辭職了。
[编辑] 愛爾蘭
In the Republic of Ireland formal impeachment can apply only to the President. Article 12 of the Constitution of Ireland provides that、unless judged to be "permanently incapacitated" by the Supreme Court、the president can only be removed from office by the houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) and only for the commission of "stated misbehaviour". Either house of the Oireachtas may impeach the president、but only by a resolution approved by a majority of at least two-thirds of its total number of members; and a house may not consider a proposal for impeachment unless requested to do so by at least thirty of its number.
Where one house impeaches the president、the remaining house either investigates the charge or commissions another body or committee to do so. The investigating house can remove the president if it decides、by at least a two-thirds majority of its members、both that she is guilty of the charge of which she stands accused、and that the charge is sufficiently serious as to warrant her removal. To date no impeachment of an Irish president has ever taken place. The president holds a largely ceremonial office、the dignity of which is considered important、so it is likely that a president would resign from office long before undergoing formal conviction or impeachment.
The Republic's constitution and law also provide that only a joint resolution of both houses of the Oireachtas may remove a judge. Although often referred to as the 'impeachment' of a judge、this procedure does not technically involve impeachment.
[编辑] 中華民國（台灣）
台灣對官員的彈劾，依照中華民國憲法的規定可分為對總統與副總統的彈劾與對公務人員的彈劾兩種，其程序略有不同。
[编辑] 對總統與副總統的彈劾
台灣對總統與副總統的彈劾，原依憲法本文係由監察院提出彈劾案，國民大會決議，頗有西方彈劾制度下、上兩院之意，然而民選而草根性重的國民大會，卻與菁英色彩的上議院南轅北轍，頗受批評；後來歷次的修憲中，先改由立法院提出彈劾案；最近一次修憲，改國民大會決議為交由司法院大法官之憲法法庭審理。
雖然有謂經過戰後50年的實踐，此制係「只打蒼蠅不打老虎」，蓋立法院提出彈劾案門檻過高。然而，此種高門檻係因憲法為維護行政權穩定性的本質上目的而設計的，故實難僅依1/2多數決提出，否則每屆立法院多數動輒對少數政府提出彈劾案，將致行政權不安，此點放諸各立憲例幾乎皆如此，故世界各國均偶一為之；更有甚者，台灣的彈劾權由於疏未規定發動事由，使得原本為追究法律責任的彈劾權，很容易變相成為政治鬥爭工具，立法院在提出後，即將此一燙手山芋丟予司法院大法官，迫使大法官無法就法論法而捲入政治漩渦，故不少學者認為此部分立法欠缺之後果甚為嚴重。
[编辑] 對其他公務人員的彈劾
台灣現行對公務人員的彈劾，主要集中在對高級公務人員的彈劾上，其在行政法上的地位類似刑事法上的起訴，在台灣的實踐上，由於包括事務人員，學者常有謂易與公務員懲戒制度混淆。
[编辑] 其他國家
- 奧地利: The Austrian Federal President can be impeached by the Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung) before the Constitutional Court. The constitution also provides for the recall of the president by a referendum. Neither of these courses has ever been taken.
- 巴西: The President of Federative Republic of Brazil can be impeached. This happened to Fernando Collor de Mello、due to evidences of bribery and misappropriation.
- 德國: The Federal President of Germany can be impeached by the Bundestag for willfully violating German law. Once the Bundestag impeaches the president、the Federal Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him or her from office. No such case has yet occurred.
- 挪威: Members of government、representatives of the national assembly (Stortinget) and Supreme Court judges can be impeached for criminal offences tied to their duties and committed in office、according to th Constitution of 1814、§§ 86 and 87. The procedural rules were modelled on the US rules and are quite similar to them. Impeachment has been used 8 times since 1814、last in 1927. Many argue that impeachment has fallen into desuetude.
[编辑] 彈劾成功而下台的總統
- Fernando Collor de Mello、president of Brazil was impeached in 1992、and this led to his resignation.
- Carlos Andrés Pérez、president of Venezuela、was impeached in 1993.
- Raúl Cubas Grau、president of Paraguay、was impeached in 1999.
- Roh Moo-hyun、president of South Korea、was impeached on March 12、2004; Korea's Constitutional Court overturned the decision on May 14、2004.
- Rolandas Paksas、president of Lithuania、was impeached on April 6、2004.
[编辑] 參見
- Impeachment in the United States
- Movement to impeach George W. Bush
- SourceWatch Article on The Case for Impeachment of President George W. Bush
