TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, Pamela Huang, Claudia Huang and Ching-Tzu (Katie) Chang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
levels of courts with jurisdiction. And as men- tioned in 7.2 Case Management Hearings , such cases have a more rigorous trial plan, so the trial time is usually shorter than that in general com- mercial cases. According to statistics published by Taiwan’s judicial branch in 2022, the average duration of proceedings in major commercial cases is about four months.
Out-of-court settlements are not writs of execu- tion. In other words, if a debtor fails to perform this type of settlement agreement, the creditor cannot directly apply to the court for enforce- ment of the agreement; instead, the creditor must first file a lawsuit and obtain a favourable judgment against the debtor. However, if the settlement agreement was notarised and meets other requirements under the Notary Act, the settlement agreement may constitute a writ of execution. If so, it may be enforced directly. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements Out-of-court settlement agreements may be deemed null and void for reasons including: • incapacity of a party; • lack of intent to enter into the agreement between parties; or • violation of public order and good morals (public policy). Also, a party may revoke an out-of-court settle- ment agreement if: • the party was acting under a mistake; or • the party agreed to the settlement under fraud or duress. Settlement in litigation may also be deemed null and void, or be revoked by a party for the same reasons. Also, a settlement in litigation will be deemed null and void if such settlement violates
8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval
Court approval is not required to settle a lawsuit. The parties may opt for “settlement in litigation” or “out-of-court settlement”. Settlement in litiga- tion refers to settlement reached by the parties with the assistance of the court during the liti- gation process, while out-of-court settlement is reached by the parties in private without court’s intervention. Neither type of settlement requires court approval regarding the terms of the set- tlement. 8.2 Settlement of Lawsuits and Confidentiality While the court keeps records of settlements reached in litigation, the content of these records is confidential. In the case of settlement in liti- gation, there is a public record accessible on the Judicial Yuan’s Legal Information Retrieval System stating that the matter was “settled”. No other details are disclosed to the public. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements Where a settlement in litigation is reached, the settlement agreement (as recorded in court tran- scripts) has the same effect as a final judgment, and constitutes a writ of execution. Parties may apply to the enforcement courts to enforce the settlement agreement.
procedural requirements, such as: • either party’s lack of standing;
• either party’s lack of capacity to litigate; or • the agent ad litem was not authorised to rep- resent the parties in the settlement.
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