TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Yafen Lin, Peng-Kwang Chen, I-Ming Chen and Weiyu Chiang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys at Law
• the debtor has appeared in front of the foreign court to participate in the proceeding that rendered the foreign judgment; or • the foreign court’s summons notifying the com - mencement of the foreign court proceedings were legally served on the debtor. A 2011 Supreme Court judgment further explains that, where a foreign court serves a defendant located in Taiwan with a notice or order commencing proceed - ings, such notice or order must be served in accord - ance with the procedures stipulated in the Law in Supporting Foreign Courts on Consigned Cases, the Handling Procedures for Judicial Assistance Matters, and other relevant Taiwanese laws and regulations. The notice or order must also allow the defendant suf - ficient time to prepare a defence. Accordingly, if the plaintiff’s lawyers simply send legal documents to the debtor by mail, or hand them directly to the debtor, such service may fail to satisfy the requirements of Article 402 (1)(ii) of the Taiwan Code of Civil Procedure. After Recognition/Permission of Enforcement After the recognition/permission of enforcement of a foreign judgment, a debtor may challenge such enforcement by filing an objection suit on the grounds that the claims have been extinguished or prevented due to reasons that arose after the court recognised/ permitted the enforcement of the foreign judgment. Further details may be found in 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments. 4. Arbitral Awards 4.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Domestic Arbitral Awards To enforce a domestic arbitral award, a party must first obtain an enforcement order from the competent court, unless the parties have agreed in writing that the award may be enforced without such an order and the subject matter of the award concerns one of the following (see Article 37 (2) of the Taiwan Arbitration Law): • payment of a specified sum of money or certain amount of fungible goods or securities; or
• delivery of specified movable property. Arbitral Awards From China
It is worth noting that Chinese arbitral awards are treated differently from arbitral awards seated in oth - er offshore jurisdictions (Hong Kong and Macao are excluded here as the Taiwan Arbitration Law applies mutatis mutandis to arbitral awards made in these two areas). Pursuant to Article 74 of the Cross-Strait Relations Act, a Taiwanese court shall confirm/rec - ognise civil arbitral awards made in the seat of China provided that: • the arbitral award is not contrary to public order and good morals (public policy) in Taiwan; and • arbitral awards made in Taiwan are eligible for a recognition order or considered enforceable titles in China (ie, reciprocity requirement). Arbitral Awards From Other Jurisdictions Arbitration rules and foreign arbitral awards Pursuant to Article 47 (1) of the Taiwan Arbitration Law, a foreign arbitral award refers to: • an arbitral award seated outside the territory of Taiwan; or • an arbitral award made in accordance with foreign laws even though seated within the jurisdiction of Taiwan. Under this definition, an arbitral award seated in Tai - wan is not necessarily a domestic arbitral award if for - eign law applies. This point was illustrated by a 2022 Supreme Court judgment, in which the court took the view that an arbitral award made in accordance with the ICC Arbitration Rules within Taiwan is deemed a foreign arbitral award. Recognition and enforcement To enforce a foreign arbitral award, one must obtain a recognition decision rendered by the Taiwanese court first. According to Article 49 of the Taiwan Arbitration Law, an application for recognition of a foreign arbi - tral award shall be dismissed if any of the following circumstances apply. Being contrary to public order and good morals in Taiwan
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