TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, I-Ming Chen, Pamela Huang and Claudia Huang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
court if dissatisfied. In the absence of any appeal, the judgment becomes final. 7.2 Case Management Hearings In most civil cases, there are no case management hearings, and no statutory provisions dictate the num- ber of hearings or the duration it takes for a court to reach its decision. Judges possess immense discre- tionary power over how a case proceeds. Nevertheless, the Judicial Yuan has established regu- lations governing case processing timeframes. In gen- eral, the time limits for civil cases are 16 months for the first instance, two years for the second instance, and one year for the third instance. If a judge exceeds these time limits, it may affect their performance eval- uation. For major commercial cases to which the procedures stipulated under the Commercial Case Adjudication Act are applicable, the court must discuss and for- mulate a trial plan with the parties, to facilitate and expedite the proceedings. 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases There are no jury trials for civil cases in Taiwan. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence In civil cases, there are five types of evidence admis- sible in court: • examination of witnesses; • expert testimony; • documentary evidence; • inspection by judge – eg, the judge may investigate the scene where the alleged tortious acts took place; and • interrogation of parties. Once evidence is admitted to the court, there are no specific standards governing the assessment of its weight and probative value. Judges employ the prin- ciple of free evaluation of evidence. For evidence illegally gathered by private individuals, the court will weigh several factors, including the intru- sion on privacy, principles of good faith, protection of constitutional rights, the necessity to establish the
truth through such approaches, and balance all the interests on a case-by-case basis to determine if such
evidence is admissible. 7.5 Expert Testimony
As explained in 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mecha- nisms , in most civil cases, the parties may apply for a court-appointed expert to investigate relevant facts. If the parties can mutually agree on the selection of an expert, the court will usually honour such agree- ment. However, the parties cannot introduce privately obtained expert testimony to the court. For major commercial cases to which the procedures stipulated under the Commercial Case Adjudication Act are applicable, apart from the court-appointed experts, the parties may choose to introduce expert witnesses to provide professional opinions with court permission. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public In principle, trials are generally open to the public, but transcripts of the proceedings are not available to third parties. Please also refer to 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings . 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge As explained in 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System , Taiwan uses an adversarial system in civil cases. The parties involved primarily shoulder the responsibility for advancing or defending their posi- tions and presenting evidence while the court takes the lead in managing the litigation process. During the final oral argument session, the court will set a date for the announcement of its decision. The operative part of the judgment is read out in the court and published online on that date. The full judgment, which includes the operative part of the judgment and the court’s reasoning, is delivered in writing to the par- ties within one to two weeks after the announcement. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings Commercial disputes in Taiwan can be categorised into general commercial cases, which are subject to the Code of Civil Procedure, and major commercial cases, which are subject to the Commercial Case
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