Taiwan 2022-A

Taiwan is not a Contracting State to the New York Convention. Its Arbitration Act, however, is modeled on the Convention.

In 2016, the Taiwan High Court (Civil Judgment No. 2015 Zhong-Shang-Zi 966) rejected the argument that foreign awards did not have the same legal effect as domestic awards, specifically res judicata. The argument stemmed from a literal reading of the different wording in Taiwan’s Arbitration Act: Art. 37(1) stipulates that domestic awards shall “be binding on the parties and have the same force as a final judgment of a court”, whereas the pre-amended Art. 47(2) merely provided that foreign awards which have been recognized by a Taiwan court “shall be enforceable”. The High Court reiterated that the legislative intent of the Act was to create a pro-arbitration environment in line with the New York Convention. Article III of the Convention explicitly requires its Contracting States to “recognize arbitral awards as binding”. Accordingly, foreign awards which are recognized by a Taiwan court would have the same res judicata effect, notwithstanding any omission or ambiguity of the pre-amended Art. 47(2) of the Act. Furthermore, the current Art. 47(2) (amended in November 2015) explicitly states that such foreign awards “shall be binding on the parties and have the same force as a final judgment of a court”.

Country
Taiwan – Republic of China

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Full text decision Taiwan 2022-A

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Excerpt decision Taiwan 2022-A

Topics in Taiwan 2022-A
¶301 » Procedure for enforcement in general