CAA's Latest Efforts to Help Overhaul Taiwan's Arbitration Act

Taiwan's existing Arbitration Act was adopted in 1998 and followed up by minor amendments in 2002, 2009 and 2015. Because so much has changed with regard to arbitration worldwide in the past two decades, CAA already set up a task force in 2012 and prepared drafts of amendments to the Act.  On March 1, 2018 CAA established an ad hoc team to draft a new legislative bill in order to help the government overhaul the Act. CAA wishes to complete the final draft by the end of this year so that various governmental institutions and interested parties can consult with it.

This is CAA’s latest efforts and part of its never-ending endeavor to reform and modernize Taiwan’s arbitration laws in response to international practices and developments. The draft bill will be based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration 1985 with amendments adopted in 2006 while incorporating certain pre-existing provisions of the Act and other Taiwan-specific features. The CAA team is convened and coordinated respectively by Fuldien Li (CAA Chairperson) and Nigel N. T. Li (CAA Executive Director). Other team members include Marianne Chao, Yao-Ming Hsu, Frank Kung, Angela Yao Lin, Winnie Jo-Mei Ma (CAA Deputy Secretary-General), Chung-Jau Wu and Anna Yen.

Group Discussion led by CAA Chairman Dr. Fuldien Li (upper column).

Seminar on Conducting Arbitration under CAAI Rules

To expand its dispute resolution services beyond Taiwan and adapt to international developments in arbitration, CAA enacted the new CAAI Arbitration Rules 2017, which took effect from July 1, 2017. The seminar on April 27, 2018 on “Conducting Arbitration under CAAI Rules” was the first in the series for the interpretation and application of CAAI Rules and related issues. CAA had the pleasure of collaborating with IDRA (International Dispute Resolution Academy), particularly distinguished speakers Dr. Michael Hwang (IDRA President) and Dr. Fan Yang (IDRA Director). Highlights of the seminar included a mock case management conference, and simultaneous interpretation of English and Chinese presentations.

Mock Case Management Conference, (from left to right) Dr. Fan Yan, Dr. Michael Hwang and Dr. Winnie Jo-Mei Ma.

CAA Events to Promote Facilitative Mediation

CAA Mediation Center (the Center) is currently the only non-governmental mediation institution in Taiwan. The Center administers mediation cases and provides training for mediators. Its mediation training course of 32 hours over two phases has received positive feedback from all participants.

In order to promote court mediation services and reduce the number of litigation cases, the Judicial Yuan collaborated with the Center to hold three courses on “Mediation Techniques” in the northern, central, and southern parts of Taiwan respectively. Most participants were judges, court clerks, mediation committee members and other court officers responsible for handling mediation cases. The concept of facilitative mediation together with other new or different mediation techniques were introduced by these interactive courses.

Seminar on Mediation Techniques held in Taipei.

CIArb ARM Course in Hsinchu, March 2018

After the signing of the CIArb-CAA Memorandum of Understanding, the East Asia Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb EAB) convened another Accelerated Route to Membership (ARM) course in Hsinchu on March 10-11, 2018. This course was administered by CAA and supported by the Institute of Law for Science and Technology of National Tsing Hua University and Hsinchu Bar Association.

The course was attended by 40 candidates with different professional backgrounds from different cities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Beijing. Its assessors were Anthony Houghton S.C. (course director), Mary Thomson, Douglas Kenji Freeman, David Fong, John Cock and Helena Chen, together with shadow assessors, Winnie Jo-Mei Ma (CIArb EAB Taiwan Chapter convenor and CAA Deputy Secretary-General), Houchih Kuo, Alison Chang and Alice Lu.

CIArb ARM Course Assessors and Shadow Assessors.

Seminar on Offshore Wind Energy

On April 25, 2018 CAA held a seminar on “Contract of Offshore Wind Energy Construction Project – 2017 FIDIC Suite of Agreements”, hosted by CAA Chairman, Dr. Fuldien Li. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Anna Yan, Associate Professor and Vice Dean of General Affairs of National Cheng Chi University College of Law, accompanied by invited panelists with expertise in construction projects and laws.

This seminar discussed important changes and reasons relating to the revised and new provisions in FIDIC Red Book, Yellow Book and Silver Book published in December 2017. Since Taiwan’s market of wind energy remains at the development stage with substantial opportunity for growth, thereby increasingly raising awareness and interest in risk distribution and dispute prevention dispute. This seminar attracted hundreds of participants from relevant sectors.

Group Photo of the Seminar on April 25, 2018.

Others

In a marathon of conferences and seminars in 2018, CAA Deputy Secretary-General (Dr. Winnie Jo-Mei Ma) spoke at the University of New South Wales Law Faculty on April 19 (“Recent Reforms of Arbitration Institutions in China and Australia: Specialization, Digitalization and Internationalization”); AIAC Conference in Kuala Lumpur on May 7 (“Ethical Regulation of Arbitrators and Practitioners”); and City University of Hong Kong Conference on May 17 (“Institutional Limits on Party Autonomy to Enhance Efficiency, Expediency or Efficacy of International Commercial Arbitration”). CAA also had the pleasure of hosting a collaborative and bilingual seminar with King & Spalding (Singapore Office) on May 4, during which Simon Dunbar delivered the keynote speech “Protecting the Company’s Global Interest in International Arbitration – Tactics, Pitfalls, and Other Considerations”.

Upcoming Events

2018 Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation

The 2018 Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation will be held on August 27-28, 2018. The conference is co-hosted by CAA and ACWH (Asia Center for WTO & International Health Law and Policy, National Taiwan University College of Law). The theme of this year’s conference is “Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation: Competitive or Collaborative/Cooperative Relations?”, with more than 20 distinguished guest speakers from different countries presenting on related topics. For further details, please see: www.arbitration.org.tw.

First CIArb ARF Course in Taiwan, September 2018

CIArb EAB Taiwan Chapter is now receiving applications for the first Accelerated Route to Fellowship course in Taiwan. This two-day assessment course will be held in CAA Taipei Office on September 23-24,  2018. The course is based on UNCITRAL Model Law and Arbitration Rules, and is designed for professionals who wish to obtain the title of “FCIArb”. Candidates may download course flyer and application form from CAA website: www.arbitration.org.tw.

Visits

Dr. Jeffrey Shih-Jey Chen (in the middle), CAA Deputy Secretary-General greeted delegates from Legal Society of XuZhou City, JiangSu Province on April 11, 2018.

CAA Chairman Dr. Fuldien Li (second to left) spoke at the International Association Chairman's Forum, the 9th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum on June 8, 2018.

CAA delegates visited Taiwan Business Association (HK) Ltd. on June 6, 2018. CAA Chairman Dr. Fuldien Li (fourth from right) and Mr. Andy Lo, Honorary Chairman of the Association (fourth from left).