TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Yafen Lin, Peng-Kwang Chen, I-Ming Chen and Weiyu Chiang, Formosa Transnational
that is originally for something other than money but that may evolve into a claim for money as a substitute. Many contract and tort claims evolve into claims for money when specific performance is not an available remedy and the court awards compensatory damages instead. To obtain a provisional attachment order, a creditor must make a preliminary showing that there is a likeli - hood that it will be “impossible or extremely difficult” to satisfy the creditor’s claims by compulsory enforce - ment upon a final and binding judgment in the future. If the creditor fails to make the required prima facie showing that future enforcement is likely to be difficult, the court may exercise its discretion and request the creditor to provide security as an alternative. In gen - eral, such security is a sum equal to one-third of the value of underlying claims. Foreign creditors can apply for attachment orders and should consult with Taiwan litigation counsel about when and how to seek an attachment order when filing overseas litigation against a Taiwan defendant if enforcement against assets in Taiwan is contem - plated. Property disclosure order to a third party A provisional attachment order allows a creditor to initiate compulsory enforcement proceedings against a debtor on the grounds of the enforcement title grant - ed by the provisional attachment order. In the course of these proceedings, the creditor may petition the court’s enforcement division to make inquiries with the relevant authorities, organisations, or persons who possess knowledge of the debtor’s assets (collective - ly, the “knowledgeable third parties”) under Article 19 (2) of the Compulsory Enforcement Act. Typically, the court will issue an official order letter requiring knowledgeable third parties such as the fol - lowing to report assets owned by the debtor (“prop - erty disclosure order to a third party”): • Local Tax Office: A creditor may obtain a list of personal income and a list of properties (including real properties and vehicles) of the debtor from a local tax office.
• Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation: A creditor may identify stock held by the debtor from information provided by the Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation. • Life Insurance Association of the Republic of Chi - na: A creditor may identify insurance policies held by the debtor from information provided by the Life Insurance Association of the Republic of China. Post-adjudication Phase Property disclosure order to a third party A creditor may also apply to the court to issue a prop - erty disclosure order to a third party during the post- adjudication phase. The procedure is the same as the Pursuant to Article 20 (1) of the Compulsory Enforce - ment Act, the court may issue a property disclosure order to a debtor, requiring the debtor to report his/her property, subject to certain conditions (the “property disclosure order to a debtor”). If the debtor fails to provide the report by the deadline set by the court, the court has the power to place the debtor into cus - tody under Article 20 (3) of the Compulsory Enforce - ment Act. However, in practice the court rarely issues a property disclosure order to a debtor, and placing a debtor in custody is even rarer. Article 4 (1) of the Compulsory Enforcement Act provides several types of enforceable titles as listed below. It is worth noting that, unlike a final judgment, an interlocutory judgment rendered during civil pro - ceedings is not an enforceable title. Final and Binding Judgment There are three types of final judgment available from the courts in Taiwan: • a judgment of performance; one explained in the previous section. Property disclosure order to a debtor 2. Domestic Judgments 2.1 Types of Domestic Judgments • a declaratory judgment (ie, a court decision stating the exact nature of the underlying legal matter and resolving legal uncertainties between both parties); and
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