TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, I-Ming Chen, Pamela Huang and Claudia Huang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation
division may remove the property from the debtor’s or third party’s possession and allow the creditor to take possession thereof. With respect to claims for action and no-action, the court may impose a default surcharge (ie, a sum of money as penalty for non-compliance) on debtors or even place the debtors into custody, if such claims are unable to be carried out by a third party instead. 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country For foreign judgments that are not rendered in China, the Compulsory Enforcement Act applies. A credi- tor must first file a lawsuit to the court for permis- sion to enforce the foreign judgment, before initiating the compulsory enforcement proceedings for foreign judgment. The court will recognise a foreign judgment, unless any of the following circumstances apply: • the foreign court rendering the judgment had no jurisdiction over the case pursuant to Taiwan law; • the foreign judgment was rendered by default and the summons or court orders necessary for com- mencement of the action had not been duly served on the defaulting party in the foreign country or through judicial assistance under Taiwan’s laws; • the foreign judgment is contrary to Taiwan’s public policy or good morals; or • judgments rendered in Taiwan are not recognised by the country that made the foreign judgment. In the case of foreign judgments that are rendered in China, the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (the “Cross-Strait Relations Act”) applies. Pursuant to the Cross-Strait Relations Act, a creditor must first peti- tion the court for recognition of such judgment, before initiating the compulsory enforcement proceedings. Requirements for such recognition include that: • it is a final and irrevocable civil ruling or judgment; • the judgment is not contrary to the public order or good morals of Taiwan; and • a binding civil judgment made in Taiwan may obtain a recognition order or may be an enforce- able title in China (ie, reciprocity requirement).
As indicated in 1.2 Court System , Taiwan’s civil judi- cial system consists of three levels of courts: the Dis- trict Court, the High Court, and the Supreme Court. Both the District Court and the High Court may par- ticipate in fact-finding, whereas the Supreme Court’s scope of review is limited to correcting errors of law in judgments made by inferior courts. Most civil cases go through all three levels of courts, provided that the losing party chooses to appeal to the higher courts. However, given the nature of certain civil cases, where the disputed amount is relatively low, or where the need for a speedy trial is prioritised, only one appeal is permitted. In other words, these cases involve proceedings at two levels of courts at most. Such civil cases include: • cases where the disputed amount is lower than TWD1.5 million; • cases to which summary proceedings or small- claim proceedings are applicable; and • major commercial cases to which the Commercial Case Adjudication Act is applicable. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments For civil cases, the rules concerning appeals of judg- ments are as follows. When Appealing to the High Court The losing party may appeal against judgments made by the District Court without obtaining the High Court’s permission. When Appealing to the Supreme Court Appeals to the Supreme Court must be based on the ground that there are errors of law in the judgments made by lower courts. A judgment is deemed to have an error in law in the following situations: • where the court that made the judgment is not law- fully organised; • where a judge who should have been recused from the case has participated in making the decision;
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