Legal System of Taiwan

Taiwan is located in East N Southeast Asia. It is geographically situated in eastern asia, islands bordering the east china sea, philippine sea, south china sea, and taiwan strait, north of the philippines, off the southeastern coast of china. The capital is Taipei.

Government Overview

Government Type: semi-presidential republic Chief of State: President LAI Ching-te (since 20 May 2024) Head of Government: Premier CHO Jung-tai (President of the Executive Yuan) (since 20 May 2024) Cabinet: Executive Yuan; ministers appointed by president on recommendation of premier Administrative Divisions: includes main island of Taiwan, plus smaller islands nearby and off coast of China’s Fujian Province; Taiwan is divided into 13 counties (xian, singular and plural), 3 cities (shi, singular and plural), and 6 special municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan

counties: Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli, Nantou, Penghu, Pingtung, Taitung, Yilan, Yunlin

cities: Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung

special municipalities: Kaohsiung (city), New Taipei (city), Taichung (city), Tainan (city), Taipei (city), Taoyuan (city) National Holiday: Republic Day (National Day), 10 October (1911) Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Legal System

The legal system of Taiwan is described as civil law system International Law: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Constitutional Framework

The constitution has the following history: previous 1912, 1931; latest adopted 25 December 1946, promulgated 1 January 1947, effective 25 December 1947 Amendment Process: proposed by at least one fourth of the Legislative Yuan membership; passage requires approval by at least three-fourths majority vote of at least three fourths of the Legislative Yuan membership and approval in a referendum by more than half of eligible voters

Judicial Branch

Highest Court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 100 judges organized into civil and criminal panels, each with a chief justice and 4 associate justices); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 13 justices) Judge Selection: Supreme Court justices appointed for life by the president; Constitutional Court justices appointed by the president, with approval of the Legislative Yuan, for 8-year terms, with half the membership renewed every 4 years Subordinate Courts: high courts; district courts; hierarchy of administrative courts

Legislative Branch

The legislative structure consists of unicameral

Citizenship and Suffrage

Citizenship by Birth: no Citizenship by Descent: at least one parent must be a citizen of Taiwan Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Historical Background

First inhabited by Austronesian people, Taiwan became home to Han immigrants beginning in the late Ming Dynasty (17th century). In 1895, military defeat forced China’s Qing Dynasty to cede Taiwan to Japan, which then governed Taiwan for 50 years. Taiwan came under Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) control after World War II.

This article provides a summary of the legal system and governmental structure of Taiwan based on the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook is a public domain publication of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.