Law of Taiwan

The law of the Republic of China as applied in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu is based on civil law with its origins in the modern Japanese and German legal systems. The main body of laws are codified into the Six Codes:

Laws are promulgated by the President after being passed by the Legislative Yuan; the enforcement rules of laws issued by the competent authority under the Executive Yuan designated by the legislation.

After Taiwan ceded to Japan in 1895, the Civil Code of Japan was created in 1896. It was heavily influenced by the first draft of the German Civil Code and the French Civil Code. The code is divided into five books. Those on family and succession retain certain vestiges of the old patriarchal family system that was the basis of Japanese feudalism. It was in these sections that most of the postwar revisions were made. At that time it was considered no longer necessary or desirable to pay such homage to the past, and the sections dealing with family law and succession were brought closer to European civil law. This law was applied to Taiwan.

During Japanese rule, the court in the modern sense, which means the judicial power is independent from the administrative power, was created for the first time in Taiwanese history.

After the Kuomintang consolidated its rule over China in Northern Expedition, the Nationalist government succeeded in codifying all the major civil, criminal, and commercial laws of China: the Criminal Code (1928), the Code of Criminal Procedure (1928), the Civil Code (1929), the Code of Civil Procedure (1929), the Insurance Law (1929), the Company Law (1929), the Maritime Law (1929), the Negotiable Instruments Law (1929), Bankruptcy Law (1935), and the Trademark Law (1936). The laws enacted by the Kuomintang were largely based on drafts formed during the late Qing dynasty. At the end of Qing Dynasty, the government has recruited some Japanese law experts to draft the law for China. Tokyo High Court judge Yoshimasa Matsuoka (松岡 義正; 1870-1939) has drafted the first 3 Chapters (General Provision, Law of Obligation Law of Real Property) of the Civil Code, as well as the Code for Civil Procedure, for the Qing Empire. Professor Koutarou Shida (志田 鉀太郎; 1868-1951) drafted the Commercial Law. However, before these draft bills being enacted, the Qing dynasty was overthrown, with China descending into warlordism for the ensuring decade.

In the area of constitutional law, the Taiwan uses the 2005 Additional Articles which amend the original 1947 Constitution. Significant changes have been made to take into account the fact that the Government of the Republic of China only controls Taiwan and surrounding islands since the 1950s.

The ROC legal system took effect in Taiwan on 25 October 1945, after most Japanese laws were repealed on 25 October 1946.

The Kuomintang-headed ROC central government moved to Taiwan in December 1949 followed by a large number of Chinese immigrants who eventually accounted for about 13 percent of Taiwan's entire population. The “Statute for Agriculture, Mining, Industry and Commerce During the Extraordinary Period” (1938) and the "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of General National Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion" (1948) gave authorities the power to control resources, as well as establish political control over freedom of news, speech, press, communication, assembly and association during wartime.