TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, I-Ming Chen, Pamela Huang and Claudia Huang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief There are three types of injunctive relief that may be awarded to a creditor before a final and binding judg- ment is made. • Provisional seizure – if a creditor can clearly demonstrate that: (i) they have a monetary claim (or a demand exchangeable to a monetary claim) against a debtor; and (ii) due to the debtor’s actions or financial status, it is expected to be dif- ficult to satisfy a creditor’s claim after they obtain a favourable judgment against the debtor in the future, the court may grant provisional temporary seizure of the debtor’s assets. • Provisional injunction – for non-monetary claims, similar to provisional seizure, if a creditor can clearly demonstrate the existence of such claims, and the future difficulty of fulfilling the claims, the court may temporarily order a debtor to conduct or prohibit a debtor from conducting specific acts. For example, the court may prohibit a debtor from transferring ownership of land. • Provisional injunction maintaining a temporary status quo – a claimant may request an injunc- tion maintaining a temporary status quo to prevent significant harm or imminent danger arising from a disputed legal relationship. 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief While there is no prescribed timeframe for a court to decide on an application for injunctive relief in civil cases, for provisional seizures and provisional injunc- tions, the court usually renders a decision within one to two weeks. 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis The mechanisms of provisional seizures and provi- sional injunctions are intended to prevent the debtor from transferring their assets or conducting certain acts before the final judgment is made. Therefore, the court will not notify a debtor of such applications from a creditor before the decision is made. However, the court will serve the injunctive relief to a debtor after, or simultaneously with, the enforcement of the injunc-
• Court-appointed expert – parties may request the court to appoint an expert to carry out the evalu- ation or examination of disputed facts. The expert can be an individual or an institution. 5.5 Legal Privilege The concept of legal privilege is not a widely recog- nised principle in civil cases. A client may be ordered to submit information on matters relevant to the litiga- tion, including the attorney’s work product received by the client. However, Taiwan’s Code of Civil Procedure allows a witness to decline to testify when questioned about matters that fall under their professional duty of secrecy. As lawyers are obliged to keep the secrets of their clients, attorneys may refuse to testify. It is worth noting that in June 2023, the Constitutional Court issued a judgment affirming that the right to confidential communication between lawyers and clients is protected under the Constitution. Also, the communications and work product created by law- yers within the scope of the attorney-client relation- ship should not be used as evidence in criminal cases. This decision strengthens the protection of attorney- client privilege and preserves the core of trust and confidentiality within this relationship. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document When a document pertains to privacy or trade secrets, the party involved may refuse to disclose it. Never- theless, if the court deems it necessary, production may be ordered although the court may take steps to ensure that this is accomplished in a non-public or confidential manner. For cases related to intellectual property or major commercial disputes, the procedures stipulated under the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act or the Commercial Case Adjudication Act apply. The court may, at the request of the party, issue a confidential- ity preservation order to the party, its agents, or other individuals involved in the litigation. A person subject to a confidentiality preservation order shall not use the trade secret for purposes other than the litigation in question, nor may any such person disclose it to a person who is not subject to such an order.
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