Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) The Taipei High Administrative Court dismissed an administrative litigation case on Thursday filed by 14 death row inmates asking to be granted special pardons or reduced sentences, on the grounds that it is in the president's purview, not the court's, to decide whether special pardons should be granted.

The case was brought forward by Shen Chi-wu (沈歧武), Lin Wang-jen (林旺仁), Chang Jen-pao (張人堡), Wang Hung-wei (王鴻偉), Huang Fu-kang (黃富康), Cheng Wu-sung (鄭武松), Lin Yu-ju (林于如), Shih Chih-yuan (施智元), Kuo Chi-shan (郭旗山), Chen Wen-kuei (陳文魁), Liu Hua-kun (劉華崑), Chang Chia-yao (張佳瑤), Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), and Chen Yu-an (陳昱安), who is now deceased.

Shen and other plaintiffs pleaded that they were suffering from mental illnesses or were mentally disabled and, therefore, should not have been given death sentences, which contravened the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should grant them special pardons in the spirit of the International Bill of Human Rights, Shen and the other convicts pleaded.

Huang and other plaintiffs said that after Taiwan ratified in 2009 the Act to Implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the president should have guaranteed them their right to absolution according to the ICCPR.

An appellate bench at the court ruled that the 14 convicts had all been handed the death penalty, which justified their request that they receive special pardons or reduced sentences under the ICCPR.

However, they should have directed the request to Tsai, who has not made known her decision on whether to exercise her right to grant special pardons in this case, the court said.

Seeing as it is not in the court's purview to grant special pardons, the appellate bench dismissed the administrative litigation case. The ruling can be appealed.

(By Liu Shih-yi and Sean Lin)