Enforcing foreign judgments in Taiwan: An insight into judicial practice

If the prevailing party of a foreign final civil judgment intends to enforce a judgment in Taiwan, the prevailing party shall obtain a recognition judgment for such foreign judgment from a Taiwan court. According to Article 402 of the Taiwan Civil Procedure Act, one of the requirements for recognition is that the foreign country's courts also recognise Taiwanese judgments. Before 2004, the prevailing party shall prove that the foreign country's courts have a precedent that recognises Taiwanese court judgments or that the foreign country has treaties with Taiwan regarding judicial matters. Before 2004, Taiwanese court practice made it burdensome for the prevailing party to obtain a recognition judgment from Taiwanese courts. However, in 2004, the Taiwan Supreme Court rendered a milestone judgment which opined that if a foreign country is likely to recognise a Taiwan judgment in accordance with its statutory laws or common laws, a recognition judgment shall be rendered. Under this opinion, the prevailing party does not need to submit any foreign court's precedent that recognises Taiwan's judgments as evidence, but the counterparty shall bear the burden of proof that Taiwan's judgments will not be recognised under foreign laws. However, the prevailing party may still need to submit evidence of the foreign country's laws to support the claim that the foreign country's courts would be likely to recognise Taiwan's civil judgments. To the relief of creditors, the Taiwan Supreme Court's opinion dramatically switched the burden of proof.