In order to fully protect the rights of the people, modern states shall not only fulfill the fundamental rights entitled by the Constitution, but also provide judicial relief when the rights of the people are wrongfully damaged by others.

A court is an institution that protects people’s rights through trials. People may file a lawsuit to a court claiming their rights, when private disputes arise. Also, when being prosecuted under criminal charges, people shall be tried by a court in accordance with the law. It is the court to decide whether the charged is innocent or guilty. A non-guilty defendant will be declared innocent by the verdict of the court, while a guilty one will be punished through a court decision. On the other hand, civil servants subject to discipline shall be transferred and tried under the Disciplinary Court. The Disciplinary Court shall ensure the rights of national public servants to litigation and clarify the administrative responsibilities of the charged public servants. Moreover, people having disputes with regard to public laws or having disagreements about the administrative dispositions may bring an administrative lawsuit to the administrative court, for the purpose of revoking an unlawful administrative disposition or requesting the administrative authority to render an administrative disposition. This is how courts protect people’s rights.

Introduction to the Courts
 

Depending on the nature of the cases, the complainants should file their lawsuits in the designated courts.

Civil disputes and criminal cases should be filed in ordinary courts. They are officially called civil litigation and criminal litigation. In a district where a Juvenile and Family Court is available, such as Kaohsiung, the juvenile proceedings and family proceedings are handled by such a court. As for the public law disputes, unless otherwise specified by the law (for example, lawsuits related to election or state compensation should be filed in the ordinary courts), they are dealt with by the Administrative Court.

The contents of the courts at all levels in Taiwan (R.O.C.) and the affairs which the courts hear are briefly explained as follows:

(I) Ordinary Courts

A. District Courts

Taiwan (R.O.C.) currently has 20 district courts, which are located in Taipei, Shilin, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Nantou, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Ciaotou, Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Yilan, Keelung and Penghu. In addition, there are Fujian Kinmen District Court and Fujian Lienchiang District Court in Fujian Province. The district courts are the courts of the first instance for civil and criminal litigation, elections, recall cases of public officials, social order maintenance proceedings, and state compensation incidents, etc. It also handles non-litigation cases such as notarization, lodgment and civil compulsory enforcement, bankruptcy, and consumer insolvency.

B. High Courts

Republic of China (Taiwan) currently has one Taiwan High Court (in Taipei) which includes four branches located in Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Hualien. Also, there is Fuchien High Court Kinmen Branch Court in Fujian Province. The High Court is the court of the second instance for general civil and criminal cases, hearing the cases of appeal or filing motions to setting aside court rulings against the judgment, and rulings which are decided by the district court. In addition, according to the law, the High Court is the first instance court of the litigation of presidential and vice presidential election and recall, as well as criminal offences of civil disturbance, treason, and interference with relations with other states.

C. The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is located in Taipei City where the central government is. The Supreme Court exercises jurisdiction over the appeals against civil or criminal judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of first instance, appeals against civil or criminal judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of second instance, appeals against rulings of High Courts or their branches, and extraordinary appeals or any other cases as specified by laws. The Supreme Court is the court of last instance; it only reviews the law and does not investigate facts. Therefore, not all cases can be appealed to the Supreme Court. Only cases that have grounds for the third instance as stipulated by law may be appealed to the Supreme Court.

(II) Administrative Courts

A. District Administrative Litigation Divisions of High Administrative Courts

The Administrative Court is the cornerstone of the constitutional state (Rechtsstaat). To strengthen the first-instance administrative litigation,  the district court administrative litigation divisions were abolished on August 15, 2023. Instead, “District Administrative Litigation Divisions” were established in three high administrative courts located in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. These divisions handle various cases, including small claims, traffic adjudication, detention sanctions, evidence preservation, provisional remedies, and compulsory execution cases, which were originally under the jurisdiction of district court administrative litigation divisions. In addition, they handle cases related to taxes, administrative penalties (or other accompanying punitive or administrative regulatory acts), as well as other cases related to property relations in public law, where the value of the subject matter is NTD1,500,000 or less. These cases were originally heard by high administrative courts. This initiative makes the administrative remedy system more complete.

B. High Administrative Litigation Divisions of High Administrative Courts

Since August 15, 2023, "High Administrative Litigation Divisions" have been established in three high administrative courts located in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. These divisions preside over the first-instance ordinary litigation proceedings and urban planning review proceedings. Additionally, they handle appeals or interlocutory appeals arising from small claims proceedings, traffic adjudication litigation proceedings, and detention sanction proceedings. They also review the appeals or interlocutory appeals in ordinary proceedings against court decisions of the district administrative litigation divisions.

C. The Supreme Administrative Court

The Supreme Administrative Court, located in Taipei City, is responsible for appeals or interlocutory appeals against court decisions in ordinary litigation proceedings and urban planning review proceedings from the high administrative litigation divisions. Furthermore, when deemed necessary, it also handles appeals or interlocutory appeals in ordinary litigation proceedings, small claims proceedings, and traffic adjudication litigation proceedings, transferred from the high administrative litigation divisions, to ensure the consistency of court decisions.

(III) The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court

Intellectual property rights are characterized by internationality, rapidity, technicality and professionalism. To protect intellectual property rights, the Intellectual Property Court was established on July 1, 2008, located on the 3rd Floor, No. 7, Sec. 2, Xianmin Blvd., Banqiao Dist., New Taipei City. This court is specifically designated to handle intellectual property cases and relevant matters.

Before the establishment of specialized courts or divisions, major business disputes concerning corporate governance were not always properly handled, and the quality of the judgments was not always optimal, as such proceedings required a professional environment and judges with solid knowledge of business and finance. On top of that, the judgments were unpredictable, and the judicial procedures lasted a long time. Not only the rights of the parties might be affected but also the commercial opportunities could be lost in the blink of an eye. As long as uncertainties prevailed in the business environment, the corporates could not achieve their expected performance, and the corporates as well as the industry would lose their competitiveness.

The Commercial Court was therefore established to exclusively handle major commercial cases to meet the demands for consistency, efficiency, appropriateness, and expertise. The “Intellectual Property Court Organization Act” was also amended to “Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act” and came into effect on July 1, 2021. The respective Commercial Court and Intellectual Property Court were combined into the “Intellectual Property and Commercial Court”, where the Intellectual Property Court and the Commercial Court hear cases separately, enhancing and ensuring the special jurisdiction mechanism.

The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court is a professional court that hears civil, criminal, administrative and commercial cases arising from this category. According to Article 3 of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act, it handles the following matters concerning intellectual property rights: first and second instance of civil cases, second instance of criminal cases, first instance of criminal cases under the Trade Secret Act and the National Security Act, and first instance of administrative cases and compulsory enforcement matters. Besides, it is also responsible for the commercial cases under the Commercial Case Adjudication Act, as well as other cases prescribed by law or determined by the Judicial Yuan to be within the jurisdiction of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court. It is positioned at the high court level; its corresponding Prosecutors Office is the Intellectual Property Branch of the High Prosecutors Office.

By the jurisdiction of business disputes stipulated in Paragraph 2, Article 2 of the Commercial Case Adjudication Act, the "two-level and two-instance" trial system is applied. With such a breakthrough trial system, significant commercial cases can be settled properly, expeditiously and professionally; it also improves Taiwan’s business environment and national competitiveness.

(IV) The Disciplinary Court

Located in Taipei City, the Disciplinary Court hears disciplinary cases against judges, prosecutors and other public servants. The Civil Servant Discipline Act was amended on June 10, 2020, and came into force on July 17 of the same year. This amendment changed the trial of disciplinary cases against public servants to the “one-level and two-instance” system. The first instance of the Disciplinary Chamber, which is responsible for the disciplinary cases against public servants except judges and prosecutors, shall be conducted by a panel of three judges, with the judge of the most seniority of service as the presiding judge; the second instance shall be conducted by a panel of five judges, with the President of the Disciplinary Court as the presiding judge.

The Judges Act was amended on July 17, 2019, and the Disciplinary Chamber of the Judiciary, which is responsible for the disciplinary cases against judges and prosecutors, was moved to the Disciplinary Court. In addition, the trial system was altered from “one-level and one-instance” to “one-level and two-instance.” The first instance of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Judiciary shall be conducted by a collegiate panel of two expert lay judges and three judges; the second instance shall be conducted by a collegiate panel composed of the president of the Disciplinary Court as the presiding judge together with two judges of the Supreme Court, one judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, and one judge of the Disciplinary Court as associate judges.

 (V) Juvenile and Family Court

The juvenile and family proceedings are closely related to the rights of children, juveniles and women. The juvenile justice aims at ensuring the youth can develop healthily and safely, and the trial of family cases aims at ensuring the proper functioning of families and resolving family disagreements. These cases are different from other civil or criminal cases in nature. In addition, there are several commonalities in juvenile and family proceedings: Other than both proceedings must be handled professionally by law, they should cooperate with experts in social work, psychology, counseling, psychiatry and other fields so the cases can be settled properly and holistically. Therefore, such a specific organization was established to be responsible for juvenile and family cases exclusively, and the related social resources could be integrated and shared more efficiently.

Taiwan (R.O.C.) established the Taiwan Kaohsiung Juvenile and Family Court on June 1, 2012 (as other cities do not have such a court, the cases are heard by the juvenile and family divisions in district courts). The division chief judges and the judges of the juvenile and family court (or divisions) shall receive professional training and be appointed by the Judicial Yuan. Such a court or a division is also staffed with investigation officers for juvenile affairs, protection officers for juvenile affairs, investigation officers for family affairs, psychological test specialists and psychological counselors.

(VI) In Case of Disagreement with the Judgment, Remedial Actions Such as Appeals are Available

The civil and criminal cases are heard by ordinary courts, and ordinary courts adopt the "three-level and three-instance" system. The so-called "three-level" means the court system has three main levels: district courts, the high courts and the Supreme Court. The general civil and criminal cases are heard in the district courts, which is the first instance. Once a judgment is made in a district court, the case can be appealed or an interlocutory appeal may be made against a ruling to the high court, if any party disagrees with the court decision. Such an appeal in a high court is the second instance. Likewise, the judgment or the court decision from the high court can be appealed to the Supreme Court, if any party disagrees with the judge’s ruling. This is the third and the final instance. Altogether they form the "three-level and three-instance" system.

As for the administrative litigation, the cases are handled by the administrative courts. Since August 15, 2023, the district court administrative litigation divisions were removed. Instead, the “District Administrative Litigation Divisions” and the “High Administrative Litigation Divisions” were established within the High Administrative Courts, while the “three-level and two-instance” structure remains. The term “three-level” refers to the Administrative Court system, which includes the Supreme Administrative Court, the High Administrative Court's High Administrative Litigation Divisions, and the High Administrative Court's District Administrative Litigation Divisions. The term "two-instance" means that first-instance cases heard by the High Administrative Court's District Administrative Litigation Divisions are reviewed by the High Administrative Litigation Divisions, which serve as both the second-instance court and the court of final appeal. Similarly, the first-instance cases heard by the High Administrative Court's High Administrative Litigation Divisions are reviewed by the Supreme Administrative Court, which also acts as the second-instance court and the court of final appeal.

• Release Date : 2019-11-06
• Update : 2025-04-01