Legalculture

6.1 Litigiousness

There is a Chinese proverb stating that it is better not to engage in litigation in your daily life; litigation always leads to inauspicious results. Such traditional Chinese ideas have influenced judicial practice in Taiwan.

Not only have traditional attitudes influenced litigiousness in Taiwan, but some legislative policies have too. For example, although adultery, gambling and prostitution are not criminal offences in many other countries, they are still offences in Taiwan. The criminalisation of these acts affects litigation in Taiwan in that the number of disputes dealt with by the courts is relatively high, considering the country's population of 23 million. The figures for the number of civil litigation matters initiated in the District Courts was 292 392 for 2006, 305 087for2007 and239 381 for2008.2⁰ Forcriminallitigationmatters initiated in the District Courts the figures were 347 426 for 2006, 447131 for 2007 and 445 679 for 2008.^{[265] [266] These figures show that large numbers of Taiwanese do not hesitate to start litigating for the purpose of resolving their disputes with others.}

In addition to its litigation system, Taiwan has an arbitration system similar to those found in other parts of the world. The system was created soon after the establishment of the ROC, based on legislation enacted in China. It was brought to Taiwan when the ROC resumed its jurisdiction over Taiwan. In 1961 the Com­mercial Arbitration Act was enacted, following German and Japanese legislative models, to provide a more comprehensive basis for parties to settle their com­mercial disputes. The Commercial Arbitration Act was further replaced by the current Arbitration Law 1998. Arbitration is a commonly relied-on mechanism for certain disputes, especially government procurement disputes arising from construction projects. Although arbitration is yet to become the most preferred dispute settlement mechanism in Taiwan, it is still a very important in helping solve both commercial and government procurement disputes and reduce the number of cases going to litigation.

6.2 Confidence in the courts

The Judicial Yuan conducts a number of surveys each year. One of the surveys reviews awareness of the general public about the judiciary. The result of the survey conducted in July and August 2008 showed that only about 26 per cent of Taiwanese considered themselves knowledgeable about the judicial system, with 68 per cent indicating that they did not really know about it.^[267] This reflects a need for improvement. Another survey conductedby the Judicial Yuan in2005on satisfaction with judicial procedures showed that the overall satisfaction rates for civil matters in the first and the second instances were 69.9 per cent and 64.5 per cent respectively; the rates for criminal matters in the first and the second instances were 58.8 per cent and 49.0 per cent respectively; and the rate for juvenile matters was 69.2 per cent.^[268]

These results seem positive. However, surveys conducted by private institutes reveal a very different picture. For instance, a survey conducted in 2001 by the Judicial Reform Foundation showed that 46 per cent of people considered the judicial system to be unfair. More than 67 per cent had gained their impressions of the judiciary from news reports. More than 33 per cent thought that the main reason for the unfairness in the system was the judges themselves.^[269] Although the survey was conducted some years ago, it does reflect public attitudes towards the judiciary in Taiwan. There is apparently a long way to go before Taiwan is perceived as having more qualified and trusted judges and a more reliable judiciary.

7