Jump to content

Supreme Court of the Republic of China

Coordinates:25°2′24″N121°30′35.6″E/ 25.04000°N 121.509889°E/25.04000; 121.509889
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromSupreme Court of Taiwan)
For the highest court in thePeople's Republic of China,seeSupreme People's Court.
Supreme Court of
the Republic of China
Trung Hoa dân quốc tối cao toà án
Zhōnghuá Mínguó Zuìgāo Fǎyuàn (Mandarin)
Chûng-fà Mìn-koet Chui-kô Fap-yen (Hakka)
Map
Established1927
LocationZhongzheng,Taipei,Taiwan
Composition methodPresidentialnomination withLegislative Yuanconsent
Authorized byAdditional Articles of the Constitutionand Court Organic Act
Number of positions70 (in 2015)
Websitetps.judicial.gov.tw
Chief Justice
CurrentlyKao Meng-hsun
Since2023
Supreme Court
ChineseTối cao toà án

TheSupreme Court of the Republic of China(Chinese:Trung Hoa dân quốc tối cao toà án;pinyin:Zhōnghuá Mínguó Zuìgāo Fǎyuàn;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok Chòe-ko Hoat-īⁿ) is thecourt of last resortin theRepublic of China (Taiwan),except matters regarding interpretation of the Constitution and unifying the interpretation of laws and orders which are decided by the Constitutional Court of theJudicial Yuan.

History[edit]

Supreme Court of the Republic of China at Judicial Building (1949-1992)
Former Supreme Court of the Republic of China inNanjing.

The court inTaiwan(Formosa) was originally established in 1896, the second year afterTaiwan became a part of Japan.The Taiwan High Court at this era, can be considered to be thede factosupreme court in Taiwan, because the case cannot be further appealed to the Supreme Court in Tokyo. After the second world war, Japan gave up its sovereignty on Taiwan, and the supreme court of Taiwan's judicial system has become the Supreme Court of the Republic of China.

The Supreme Court of the Republic of China was originally established as theTa Li Yuan[1](Chinese:Đại lý viện;pinyin:Dàlǐ Yuàn) in 1909. After theChinese reunification,the government of the Republic of China renamed the Dali Yuan to theSupreme courtin 1927 and made the Court the nation's court of last resort in 1928. In March 1949, the Court was moved toCantonwith the Judicial Yuan. Shortly after in August 1949, the Court was moved toTaipei,Taiwan, where theKuomintanggovernment retreated after theChinese Civil War.Originally it was located at Judicial Building at Chung-king South Road, but it was later moved to its current location on Chang-sha Street since 1992.[2]

Introduction[edit]

The Court Organization Act states that the judicial system shall be composed of the Supreme Court, High Courts, andDistrict Courts,in which the system of “three-level and three-instance” is used.[3]The Supreme Court is the final appellate court for civil and criminal cases, except for civil cases involving amounts not exceeding NT $1,500,000 and petty offences enumerated in Article 376 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.[4]

More specifically, the Court exercises jurisdiction over the following cases:[5]

  1. appeals from judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of first instance in criminal cases;
  2. appeals from judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of second instance in civil and criminal cases;
  3. appeals from rulings of High Courts or their branches;
  4. appeals from judgments or rulings rendered by the civil court of second instance by the summary procedure, the amounts in controversy exceeding NT $1,500,000, and with permission granted in accordance with specified provisions;
  5. civil and criminal retrials within the jurisdiction of the court of third instance;
  6. extraordinary appeals;or
  7. any other case as specified by laws.[5]

The Supreme Court of Taiwan consists of several chambers. Currently there are nine criminal chambers and nine civil chambers, each composed of five judges. Cases are distributed to chambers by random. The Supreme Court also convenes the "Civil Grand Chamber" and "Criminal Grand Chamber", to which potential contradicting Supreme Court decisions are submitted in order to unify statute and regulation interpretations.

Procedure[edit]

The Supreme Court is acourt of cassation,which decides only issues of law, and must base its decision on the facts ascertained in the judgment of the court of second instance (High Court). An appeal is accepted only on the grounds that the original judgment is in violation of laws; appeals would be briefly rejected if the appellant merely argues about facts and interpretation of evidence. Typically there would be no hearings due to the fact that the Court does not deal with evidence related procedures such as cross-examination, but may still be convened if deemed necessary such as debates in law or psychological evaluation of the defendant for potential death sentence.[6]

Once a case is brought to the Supreme Court and passed the check for brief dismissal, it will be assigned to a chamber. Cases before the Supreme Court are heard and decided by a panel of five judges, including a chief judge. If the chamber finds the case to be in violation of the law, the case would be reversed, and remanded to an inferior court if flaws exist in evidence acquisition or interpretation, or resentenced if the violation is simply a legal procedure error and there are no controversies upon the facts and evidence.[6]

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the highest ranking member of the court, and is appointed by thePresident.The Chief Justice is in charge of the administrative affairs of the entire court and also performs regular judge duty.[7]

Chief Justice[edit]

Post 1947 Constitution[edit]

Prominent Judges[edit]

  1. Chang Chin-lanwas the first female supreme court judge of the Republic of China.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Jianfu Chen (1995).From Administrative Authorisation to Private Law: A Comparative Perspective of the Developing Civil Law in the People's Republic of China.Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 15–.ISBN0-7923-3200-8.
  2. ^SeeThe Supreme Court of the Republic of China,History,available athttp://tps.judicial.gov.tw/english/index.php?parent_id=300(last visited Mar. 28, 2012)
  3. ^Court Organization Act,Laws and Regulations Database of the Republic of China, 4 January 2019.
  4. ^SeeThe Supreme Court of the Republic of China,Preface,available athttp://tps.judicial.gov.tw/english/index.php?parent_id=299(last visited Mar. 28, 2012)
  5. ^abSeeThe Supreme Court of the Republic of China,Jurisdiction,available athttp://tps.judicial.gov.tw/english/index.php?parent_id=302(last visited Mar. 28, 2012)
  6. ^abSeeThe Supreme Court of the Republic of China,The Supreme Court's Procedure,available athttp://tps.judicial.gov.tw/english/index.php?parent_id=565(last visited Mar. 28, 2012)
  7. ^SeeThe Supreme Court of the Republic of China,The Supreme Court's Organization,available athttp://tps.judicial.gov.tw/english/index.php?parent_id=301(lastvisited Mar. 28, 2012)
  8. ^abcdefghijkSeeThe Supreme Court of the Republic of China,Presidents,available athttp://tps.judicial.gov.tw/about/?parent_id=588(last visited 28 March 2012)
  9. ^"Tối cao toà án viện trưởng giao tiếp Trịnh Ngọc Sơn tiền nhiệm".China Times.27 October 2015.Retrieved23 October2016.

Further reading[edit]

  • Chang-fa Lo, The Legal Culture and System of Taiwan, (Kluwer Law International 2006).

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSupreme Court of the Republic of China.

25°2′24″N121°30′35.6″E/ 25.04000°N 121.509889°E/25.04000; 121.509889

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Supreme_Court_of_the_Republic_of_China&oldid=1158976693"