“An Introduction to the Legal System of Taiwan”

February 2009

Professor Chang-fa Lo

1. In this course, we will discuss the main contents of the legal system of Taiwan. They include the sources of law in Taiwan; the legal framework of Taiwan; the Constitution of the Republic; the judicial system; the Constitutional Court (Council of Grand Justices); some administrative laws; the Civil Code (including contracts, torts, property; family; succession); the Criminal Code; the Code of Civil Procedure; the Code of Criminal Procedure; and others (such as IP laws; Fair Trade Law; Government Procurement Law). We will spend the first 10 weeks or so to cover these contents as much as possible.
2. Depending upon the number of the participants, we will spare several weeks to allow the participating students to make presentations on the legal issues they choose. The issues that the participants select for their presentations must have much to do with the legal system of Taiwan or its practice or operation. The topics to be presented must be approved by the professor in advance. At the end of the semester, the participants will have to submit their term paper for evaluation. The topic of their term papers must be the ones for the oral presentations.
3. The course will be conducted fully in English. The course is designed to enable foreign students to quickly grab the essence of the law of Taiwan. It is also to provide local students with the opportunities to use English to make their presentations and arguments and to write their research papers. We welcome local and foreign students from the College of Law and from other colleges to join us.
4. Students are expected to come to the classes regularly and to engage in discussions actively.
5. The book “Legal Culture and System of Taiwan” written by the professor and published by Kluwer Law International is useful material for the reference of the participants. It should be available at the library.