Special Court Trying Civil Cases of Engineering-related Subject Matters in Operation from 1 September 2010.

The Judicial Yuan designated the Taipei District Court to establish an engineering special court on 28 October 2009 and, as of 1 September 2010, the special court is now in operation with two tribunals, a chief judge, a presiding judge and 12 judges on the staff.

Disputes over engineering projects have increased over the recent years.  Engineering-related disputes normally involve special knowledge and substantial economic value.  Where the dispute is not resolved in a timely fashion, the undergoing infrastructure project concerned could be put on hold in whole or in part at the cost of national economic interests.  As such, the Judicial Yuan decided at the end of 2008 to set up an engineering special court by the powers authorized under Article 14 of the Courts Organization Act.  Necessary training programs for the special judges followed with one specially tailored in December 2009 by the Public Construction Commission, Executive Yuan and the authorization, duties and functions of the special court were defined.  The Construction Industry Act was amended in line (which amendment passed the reading for legislation on 22 April 2009) to incorporate (at Article 67-1) the special legal authority for the Judicial Yuan to designate the court where the special court shall be set up.  Judges in this special court must have special knowledge in the fields of construction, engineering or have experience in trying engineering-related cases to adjudicate cases of disputes arising from performance of civil engineering contracts, construction contracts and relevant matters by the construction, general construction, specialized construction or civil engineering businesses provided under Article 3 of the Construction Industry Act.

According to the relevant statistics of the most recent three years, actions arising from disputes over performance of major construction contracts are mostly initiated in the Taipei District Court with 450 new cases filed in 2006, 388 in 2007 and 490 in 2008 representing a yearly average of 442.67 or a monthly average 36.89.  The Taichung District Court follows with an average of 213 new engineering-related cases received each year and the Kaohsiung District Court, 210, representing a monthly average of 16-18 new cases.  In view of the statistics and in consideration of convenient forum and limited number of special staff, the Judicial Yuan decided that the special court be established in the Taipei District Court.  (2010.08)
/EMA