萬國法律事務所

The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee of the Legislative Yuan of Republic of China have passed the first level of review on the draft on the amendments to the Administrative Litigation Act. The said draft provides that if the agency with jurisdiction over administrative appeal fails to render a decision within two months from the date of complaint, the complainant can then initiate an administrative action in the respective High Administration Court.

The Judicial Yuan has expressed its intention to thoroughly amend the Administrative Litigation Act and the draft on the amendments will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan in February 2010 for review. Moreover, the Judicial Yuan is also contemplating to include an additional summary proceeding in administrative litigations in order to facilitate the public in seeking administrative reliefs.

According to the draft amendments, the most significant amendment to the Administrative Litigation Act is the imposition of the “time frame for the filing of a suit”, which states that if the agency with jurisdiction over administrative appeal delays in rendering a decision, the complainant will be entitled to initiate an administrative action in the respective High Administrative Court.

The current Administrative Litigation Act provides that a complainant must first lodge its complaint in the agency with jurisdiction over administrative appeal. The complainant will be entitled to initiate an administrative action in court only when the decision is unsatisfactory. However, if the agency fails to act within the time specified by law, the complainant has no other means except to wait for a decision indefinitely. With the new amendments, the complainant can initiate an action in the High Administrative Court if the agency involved does not act within 2 months from the date of complaint.

The draft also provides that if a matter was transferred from another court to the Administrative Court, the court fees previously paid to the preceding court may be used as part of the court fees for the Administrative Court. In the event that there is any excess in said court fees, the complainant can then apply for a refund.

In addition, the draft includes additional provisions to the effect that when an action concerning the revocation of an administrative decision is in progress, if the original administrative decision has already been executed and the result is irrevocable, the aggrieved party can then apply to the court to declare the administrative disposition illegal.