Supreme Court of the Republic of China

The Supreme Court of the Republic of China ( is the court of last resort in the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, although matters regarding interpretation of the Constitution and unifying the interpretation of laws and orders are decided by the Constitutional Court of the Judicial Yuan

Judicial Yuan

The Judicial Yuan is one of five branches of the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan and serves as the highest judicial organ in Republic of China. Its Justices of the Constitutional Court , with 15 members, is charged with interpreting the Constitution...

History

In 1927, the government of the Republic of China renamed Dali Yuan (大理院) to the Supreme Court

Supreme court

A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...

. In 1949, the Supreme Court was moved to Taipei

Taipei

Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, where the Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

government retreated after the Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

Introduction

The Organic Law of the Court states that the judicial system shall be composed of the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District Courts

District Courts (Republic of China)

In the law of the Republic of China, the District Courts are the ordinary trial courts of general jurisdiction.- Courts :There are currently 19 District Courts on the island of Taiwan: Taipei （台北）, Panchiao （板橋）, Shihlin （士林）, Taoyuan （桃園）, Hsinchu （新竹）, Miaoli （苗栗）, Taichung （台中）, Nantou （南投）,...

, in which the system of “three-level and three-instance” is used. The Supreme Court is the court of last resort 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, any civil or criminal case may be appealed to the Court.

More specifically, the Court exercises jurisdiction over the following cases:

appeals from judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of first instance in criminal cases;
appeals from judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of second instance in civil and criminal cases;
appeals from rulings of High Courts or their branches;
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;
civil and criminal retrials within the jurisdiction of the court of third instance;
extraordinary appeals; or
any other case as specified by laws.

Procedure

Cases are forwarded to either the Civil Section or the Criminal Section, which will record the case according to the year, class of case, as well as order of receipt. The case is reviewed by the Rules for Initial Review of Civil and Criminal Cases. After review, if the Court finds the case is defective, it will send the case back to the original court or order the party to amend the defects. If the Court finds the case to be in good form, the case is then sent to the Case Assignment Subsection, which will assign the case to a certain justice. Cases before the Supreme Court are heard and decided by a panel of five judges, with the Division Chief Judge acting as the presiding judge and the chairperson in deliberation.

The Court 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 may be made to the Court only on the grounds that the original judgment is in violation of law or order. Documentary review proceedings are the norm, but if necessary, the presiding justice hear oral arguments in which issues of law are debated.

The Supreme Court has a President, who is of the special appointment rank and who is in charge of the administrative affairs of the entire court and who acts concurrently as a Judge.

Presidents

謝瀛洲（1948－1966）
查良鑑（1966－1968）
陳樸生（1968－1972）
錢國成（1972－1987）
褚劍鴻（1987－1993）
王甲乙（1993－1996）
葛義才（1996－1998）
林明德（1998－2001）
吳啟賓（2001－2007）
楊仁壽（2007－）

Prominent Judges

Chang, Chin-lan (張金蘭) was the first female supreme court judge of the Republic of China.

History

Introduction

Procedure

Presidents

Prominent Judges

See also

External links

Further reading