TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, I-Ming Chen, Pamela Huang and Claudia Huang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
• the court may make an interim decision on an issue that is a prerequisite to the final judgment. For example, if the plaintiff claims USD100,000 in damages for the defendant’s wrongful conduct, and the court determines that the defendant did indeed commit a wrongful act but has not yet confirmed the exact amount of damages, the court may issue an interim decision confirming the plaintiff has the right to claim against the defendant. These interim decisions are made to streamline the proceedings and prepare for the final judgment. Whether an interim decision may be issued is at the discretion of the court. However, in practice, courts In Taiwan, if a case falls under any of the circumstanc- es listed below, the court may dismiss the plaintiff’s lawsuit ex officio. • The lawsuit is procedurally improper or lacks other requirements. • Multiple lawsuits are filed for the same case. • The lawsuit is initiated in bad faith, for improper purpose or with gross negligence, and the claim lacks a reasonable basis in fact or law. • The plaintiff’s claim, given the facts alleged, is manifestly without legal ground. However, if the above circumstances can be reme- died, the court should provide a specified period for correction before dismissing the lawsuit. The parties may not file such dispositive motions because there is no statutory basis permitting them to do so. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit A third party may join a lawsuit if the following require- ments are met: • the action is still pending at (any level of) the court; • the purpose for a joinder is to assist one of the par- ties; and rarely issue such decisions. 4.3 Dispositive Motions
• the third party has a legal interest in the action between two parties. A joinder must file an intervention pleading to the court where the action is then pending. An interven- tion pleading shall indicate the following matters: • identify the action intervened and its parties; • the legal interests of the joinder in the action; and • request to join the action. The court shall serve the intervention pleading on the parties and may (but is not required to) consult the parties before deciding whether to permit a third party to intervene. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs If the plaintiff does not have a domicile, residence, or place of business in Taiwan, the court, upon the defendant’s application, shall order the plaintiff to pro- vide security for litigation costs. However, this does not apply under the following circumstances: • when the plaintiff’s claim includes parts that the defendant does not dispute; • when the plaintiff has sufficient assets in Taiwan to cover the litigation costs; and • after the defendant has already engaged in oral argument. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions The court fees for interim applications, including peti- tions for evidence preservation, provisional seizure and provisional injunction are all set at TWD1,000 (about USD31). Further, to compensate the defendants’ damages arising from the (wrongly claimed) provisional seizure or provisional injunction procedures, the courts may order the claimant to provide a security deposit for such petitions. • For the security deposit provided by a claimant for provisional seizure, the courts generally set the amount of deposit at one-third of the claimed amount.
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