TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Jui-Hua Fan, Hsiang-Yang Hsieh, Chia-Hsin Wu, Chi-Ying Lee and Jin-Han Hsieh, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
interest to join the collective action within a specified period. Additionally, authorised public interest groups can initiate civil class actions to halt unlawful conduct. 4.2 Opting In or Out Taiwan primarily employs an opt-in system for collec - tive actions. Individuals who have opted in to a collec - tive action lawsuit retain the right to withdraw from the proceedings prior to the conclusion of oral arguments. For class actions initiated by authorised public inter - est groups seeking to halt specific behaviours of the defendant, affected parties are afforded an opt-out option. 4.3 Direct/Indirect Purchasers Taiwanese antitrust law does not provide an ad hoc basis for a class/collective action; it is thus uncertain whether a class/collective action could be brought by indirect purchasers and/or direct purchasers. 4.4 Class Certification While Taiwan does not have a class certification pro - cedure conducted by the court, public interest groups must obtain approval from the competent authority to initiate class actions. This approval requires the group to meet criteria such as adequate membership or assets, alignment of the lawsuit with their charter, and representation of at least 20 victims. These class actions are limited in scope, as they can only seek to stop specific behaviours of the defendant and cannot pursue other claims, such as damages. As part of the approval process, the competent authority is required to hear the defendant’s opinion before granting per - mission to file the lawsuit. 5. Choice of Jurisdiction 5.1 Rules on Jurisdiction and Applicable Law Jurisdiction Generally speaking, a district court will have proper jurisdiction over a civil lawsuit if defendants have domiciles or residences in the territory subject to the court’s jurisdiction. At the same time, when a civil lawsuit is based on tor - tious activities, a district court will have proper juris -
diction over the lawsuit if the harm or injury occurs within the territory subject to the court’s jurisdiction. Applicable Law In a civil lawsuit where a foreign element is present (for instance, if any of the parties are foreigners or foreign companies), the courts will determine the applicable law. Generally speaking, the law of the country that is most connected to the subject matter will be the applicable law. For background, discovery is not available in civil, criminal, and administrative litigation proceedings in Taiwan. Court Order to Produce Materials A party to civil litigation may file a motion to order the opposing party or a third party to produce specific materials as evidence. In making such a motion, the moving party shall specifically identify the request - ed materials; overly broad or vague requests will be denied. If the requested materials are relevant to a fact substantially related to the moving party’s under - lying arguments, the court may grant the motion and order the requested party (or third party) to produce the requested materials. Such a court order is different from a search war - rant. As a result, if the requested party (or third party) disobeys the court order, the court cannot compel the requested party (or third party) to produce the requested materials; however, the court may render a ruling that imposes sanctions upon the requested party (or third party) in certain situations. Court Order to Preserve Evidence A party may also file a motion for an evidence preser - vation order if there is a possibility that the evidentiary materials in the possession of the opposing party or a third party will be destroyed or altered. The moving party may file the motion before or during litigation proceedings. 6. Disclosure/Discovery 6.1 Disclosure/Discovery Procedure
193 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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