TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Peng-Kwang Chen, Pamela Huang, Claudia Huang and Ching-Tzu (Katie) Chang, Formosa Transnational Attorneys At Law
the Supreme Court. Both the District Court and the High Court may participate 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 TWD1,500,000; • cases to which summary proceedings or small-claim proceedings are applicable; and • major commercial cases to which the Com- mercial Case Adjudication Act is applicable. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments For civil cases, the rules concerning appeals of judgments 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 lawfully organised;
• where a judge who should have been recused from the case has participated in making the decision; • where the judgment was made by a court without jurisdiction for the case; • where the parties are not lawfully represented in the action; • where the court violates the provision that the oral argument should be open to the public; or • where the judgment provides no reason for its decision, or the reasons provided are contra- dictory. If an appeal is made on grounds other than those listed in the preceding paragraph, permis- sion from the Supreme Court is required. Such permission will be granted only if the appeal is necessary to advance the law, promote con- sistency in legal opinions held by the courts, or when the legal opinions involved are significant in principle. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal In civil cases, the procedures for taking an appeal are as follows. When Appealing to the High Court The appeal pleading must be filed to the District Court within 20 days after receipt of the judg- ment. The District Court will review the appeal pleading before forwarding the case to the High Court. If the appeal does not meet the required formalities or other legal requirements, and the appellant fails to correct such deficiencies within the time period ordered by the judge, the District Court will dismiss the appeal by a ruling. When Appealing to the Supreme Court The appeal pleading must be filed to the High Court within 20 days after the receipt of the judg- ment. Also, the appellant must appoint an attor-
1368 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook