On November 20, 2020, CAA held the first public hearing for its updated draft amendment to Taiwan’s arbitration law. The event was hosted by CAA Chairman Dr. Fuldien Li, accompanied by the co-chair of the amendment task force, CAA Honorary Chairman Mr. Nigel N. T. Li, and its members including Mr. Frank Kung, Ms. Marianne Chao, Ms. Angela Lin, Dr. Yao-Ming Hsu, Dr. Chung-Jau Wu, Dr. Anna Yan, Dr. Winnie Jo-Mei Ma joined the meeting online.
 
In the opening remarks, Chairman Dr. Li briefly introduced CAA’s contribution to the development of Taiwan’s arbitration law. The first arbitration legislation of Taiwan was the “Commercial Arbitration Act” which was enacted in 1961, and was transformed into the current “Arbitration Law” ( “the Law”) after significant amendment in 1989. CAA took the initiative to submit the draft legislations and worked together with the Ministry of Justice for their adoption on both occasions. Twenty years have passed since the last major amendment of the Law. Recognizing the significant developments during the 20-year period, and the need to further internationalize Taiwan’s legal framework as well as arbitration practice, CAA again organized a task force to amend the Law. The members of the task force are all experts in arbitration with diverse background, including lawyers and scholars who have studied in Germany, France, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. Through countless meetings over three years, the task force successfully produced the first draft amendment to the Law. The main object of this amendment is to incorporate the 2006 UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (“the Model Law”). Dr. Li invited the participants to give comments and ask questions on the draft amendment for further improvement.
 
Mr. Nigel N. T. Li then explained the salient features of the draft amendment. He introduced the amendment from four dimensions: Model Law provisions not yet incorporated into the Law, special rules of the Law that should be retained, amendments that go beyond the Model Law, and the fundamental questions between annulment and non-recognition/non-enforcement of arbitral awards.
 
Participants of the public hearing gave valuable and positive feedback on the CAA draft amendment. Members of the task force also took the opportunity to clarify the legislative intent of the draft provisions when answering questions from the participants. CAA appreciates all of the participants’ comments and questions, and will take them into account when revising and refining the current draft.


CAA Chairman Dr. Fuldien Li gives opening remarks, with all task force members


Mr. Nigel N. T. Li introduces the draft amendment


Mr. C. C. Lee raises questions and makes suggestions