TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, Pamela Huang, Claudia Huang and Ching-Tzu (Katie) Chang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
evaluation or examination of disputed facts. The expert can be an individual or an institu- tion. 5.5 Legal Privilege The concept of legal privilege is not a widely recognised principle in civil cases. A client may be ordered to submit information on matters rel - evant to the litigation, including the attorney’s work product received by the client. However, Taiwan’s Code of Civil Procedure allows a wit- ness 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 Consti- tutional Court issued a judgment affirming that the right to confidential communication between lawyers and clients is protected under the Con- stitution. Also, the communications and work product created by lawyers within the scope of the attorney-client relationship should not be used as evidence in criminal cases. This deci- sion strengthens the protection of attorney-cli- ent 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. Nevertheless, if the court deems it necessary, production may be ordered although the court may take steps to ensure that this is accom- plished 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 Adju-
dication Act apply. The court may, at the request of the party, issue a confidentiality preservation order to the party, its agents, or other individu- als 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. 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 bind- ing judgment is made. • Provisional seizure – if a creditor can clearly demonstrate that: (i) they have a monetary claim (or a demand exchangeable to a mon- etary claim) against a debtor; and (ii) due to the debtor’s actions or financial status, it is expected to be difficult 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 exist- ence of such claims, and the future difficulty of fulfilling the claims, the court may tempo- rarily 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 tempo- rary status quo – a claimant may request an injunction maintaining a temporary status quo to prevent significant harm or imminent dan- ger arising from a disputed legal relationship.
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