(The Establishment of Supreme Court)
The Supreme Court shall be established at the location of the central government.

(The Jurisdictional Instances of Supreme Court)
The jurisdictional instances of Supreme Court are as follows:
1. Civil and criminal appeal cases filed against the first instance judgments delivered by the high court or its branch;
2. Civil and criminal appeal cases filed against the second instance judgments delivered by the district court or its branch;
3. Appeal cases filed against the rulings delivered by the high court or its branch;
4. Extraordinary Appeal cases;
5. Other litigation cases as provided by law.

(The Staffing of Supreme Court)
The provisions shown in the appendix govern the staffing of the Supreme Court.

• Staff Quota of the Supreme Court (The Appendix of Article 49 of the Court Organization Act).pdf
• Staff Quota of the Supreme Court (The Appendix of Article 49 of the Court Organization Act).doc

(The President)
The Supreme Court shall have one president by special appointment to handle administrative affairs of the entire court and should serve concurrently as a judge.

The Supreme Court shall have judges. The Supreme Court shall establish civil court divisions and criminal court divisions. The number of civil court divisions and criminal court divisions is determined by the case load. Each court division shall have one division chief judge, the position of which, in addition to being served concurrently by the president, shall be served concurrently by the other judges, to oversee various affairs of the court division.
The Judicial Yuan may transfer judges of high courts, their lower courts, and their branches to serve in the Supreme Court, under the supervision of a judge to handle trial proceedings and substantive examination, analyze legal issues, collect data, draft judgment orders and handle other case matters.
As needed, the Supreme Court may set up judicial assistant positions, which shall be filled by various professionals employed in accordance with the relevant laws. Judicial assistants shall serve under the supervision of a judge to handle the reviews of trial proceedings, analyze legal issues, collect data and other case matters.
The duration, in which a judge is transferred to serve in the Supreme Court, shall accrue towards the seniority of a judge.
For those who have the qualifications to practice law, the duration of time contracted to serve as judicial assistants shall accrue towards their seniority of legal practice.
The provision of paragraphs 4 of Article 12 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, which has multiple installations of civil court or criminal court, shall establish a Civil Grand Chamber or a Criminal Grand Chamber to adjudicate legal disputes.

When any of the supreme civil courts, or criminal courts reviews a trial case, if the judgment-based legal opinion is deemed, after a review, dissenting with the antecedent legal opinion for the judgment, reasons should be stated in a ruling, and the case should be processed as follows:
1. A civil court case should be submitted to a Civil Grand Chamber for adjudication;
2. A criminal court case should be submitted to a Criminal Grand Chamber for adjudication.
Before making a ruling for a case mentioned in the preceding paragraph, each of the supreme civil courts, or criminal courts should confer with the opinions of other courts with a letter of consultation. The consulting court shall reply in writing within 30 days; if no reply is received within 30 days, it is deemed to maintain the antecedent legal opinion for the judgment. Only after one of the consulting courts asserts a stand to maintain the antecedent legal opinion, can the court then make a ruling for the case, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

When any of the supreme civil courts, or criminal courts, reviews a trial case, if the judgment-based legal opinion is deemed, after a review, significant in general principle, reasons should be stated in a ruling, and the case should be submitted to the Civil Grand Chamber, or Criminal Grand Chamber for adjudication.

During a trial in any of the supreme civil courts, or criminal courts, if there are legal opinions in which the parties consider significant enough to sway the judgment, are dissenting with the antecedent judgment opinions held by the civil court, or criminal court, or are significant in general principle, the parties may indicate the following information in a written statement, and then file a motion with the civil court, or the criminal court, that accepted the case, and in turn, to submit the case with a ruling to the Civil Grand Chamber, or the Criminal Grand Chamber, for judgment.
1. Legal provisions involved;
2. The judgment that derives from dissenting opinions, or the specific contents of the legal opinion that are significant in general principle;
3. The impact of the said dissenting opinions, or the opinions of general significance, on the outcome of the judgment;
4. The legal opinions held by the movant.
The parties, other than the prosecutor, shall retain a lawyer as the agent or defense attorney for said motion, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. However, this provision does not apply, if the movant of the civil action declares that the condition, as stipulated in Article 466-1 Paragraph 1 proviso, and Paragraph 2 of the Taiwan Code of Civil Procedure, exists.
Any one court of the supreme civil courts, or criminal courts, that accepts the motion as described in the first paragraph, may rule to reject the motion, if it deems that the motion is not in compliance with legal procedures, or if it should not be legally permitted.

The court submitting the case may state reasons in a ruling and withdraw the submitted case prior to the conclusion of oral arguments in the Grand Chamber, if and when the status of the said legal dispute has rendered it unnecessary.
Before the Grand Chamber announces its ruling, it is possible to state the reasons in a ruling and withdraw the submitted case, if and when there is no need to unify the opinions about the legal dispute concerned.

The judgment for legal disputes in the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber shall be conducted by a collegial panel of eleven judges. The positions of presiding judges of the Civil Grand Chamber and the Criminal Chamber shall be assumed by the President of the Supreme Court and a division chief judge assigned by the President.
The panel of judges of the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber is composed of one judge as assigned by the court submitting the case and nine judges elected by ballot from civil court divisions or criminal court divisions.
Each court division should have at least one judge as an elected judge of the Grand Chamber.

The term of office for the presiding judge of the Grand Chamber, assigned by the president, as mentioned in paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, and the elected judges of the Grand Chamber, as mentioned in paragraph 2 of the preceding Article, is two years. The candidates for elected judges and substitutes are selected by a secret ballot in a judge meeting, from the entire board of judges of civil court divisions or criminal court divisions, prioritized by the number of votes from high to low, and in compliance with the method as mentioned in the provisions of paragraph 3 of the preceding Article.
If the president, or the presiding judge as assigned by the president, is absent or is not available to serve as the presiding judge for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled by a substitute judge, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and the most senior member of the division chief judges of the Grand Chamber shall serve as the presiding judge; if no division chief judge is available, the most senior court judge, prioritized by experience, shall fill the vacancy; if more than one judge has the same seniority by experience, the judge with the most seniority, prioritized by age, shall serve the position. If an elected judge of the Grand Chamber is absent or not available to serve as the judge for the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber, the vacancy shall be filled by a substitute judge, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
If the assigned judge of the court submitting the case, as mentioned in paragraph 2 of the preceding Article, is absent or is not available to serve as a judge of the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber, the court submitting the case shall assign another judge to serve the position.
When there is a change of judges due to a reelection in the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber, legal disputes under review by the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber, shall remain with the same Civil Grand Chamber or Criminal Grand Chamber, until the review has reached its conclusion. If a judge of the said Civil Grand Chamber or Criminal Grand Chamber, is absent or is not available to serve as the judge, the position shall be filled by a substitute judge, who was selected at the time the legal dispute was submitted to the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber.
If the recusal at the judgment of Grand Chamber by a judge of the Grand Chamber who was previously involved in the judgment of the case submitted by the court before the rehearing will render the court without any member from the Grand Chamber, the recusal will not be necessary.
The request for recusal of a judge in the Grand Chamber shall be ruled by a collegial panel of the Grand Chamber.
When the aforesaid ruling prohibits the judge whose recusal is requested from participating, the candidate for substitution shall be based on the provisions in paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 or the substitute will be appointed. The substation shall end on the judgment day of the case for which the recusal is requested.
When the president, the presiding judge of the Grand Chamber appointed by the president or a judge of the Grand Chamber is absent, the substitute shall serve until the end of the original tenure.
When the presiding judge or any judge of the Grand Chamber is unable to serve due to circumstances, the substitute or the appointed candidate shall serve the tenure for the Grand Chamber's duty until the conclusion of the circumstances. However, the substitute shall serve until the expiry of the original tenure if the remaining tenure is less than three months.

When adjudicating legal disputes, the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber, should conduct the oral arguments.
The parties, other than the prosecutor, shall retain a lawyer as the agent or defense attorney to perform oral arguments, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 474 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply mutatis mutandis to the hiring of agents ad litem for civil cases. If the accused in a criminal case has not retained a defense attorney, the presiding judge shall appoint a public defender or attorney to perform oral arguments for the accused.
On the date of oral arguments, as referred to in the first paragraph, if the appellee of a civil case has not retained an agent ad litem, or the agent ad litem of one of the parties is not present, adjudication shall be decided after the agent ad litem of the other party makes their statements. If the agents ad litem of both parties are not present, the oral arguments will not be conducted. This provision applies when the defense attorney of the accused, in a criminal case, is not present, or private prosecutor of one of the parties is, or both parties, are not present.
When the Civil Grand Chamber or the Criminal Grand Chamber, deems it necessary, the court may ex officio, or on a motion by the parties, their agents, or defense attorneys, select experts or scholars of specific professional legal issues to present their legal opinions in writing, or make statements during oral arguments.
The persons who present statements, as described in the preceding paragraph, shall disclose the following information:
1. Whether or not, during the preparation or submission of relevant professional opinions or information, they had a delegation or cooperation relationship with the parties, interested parties, or their agents, or defense attorneys.
2. Whether or not, during the preparation or submission of relevant professional opinions or information, they have received monetary remuneration, or assistance, or its equivalent price or value, from the parties, interested parties, or their agents, or defense attorneys.
3. The identities of other people who provided monetary remuneration or assistance, and its price or value.

When adjudicating a legal dispute, the Civil Grand Chamber, or Criminal Grand Chamber, should document the main text and reasons on the ruling, and the said ruling should be pronounced within 30 days of the conclusion of arguments.
Judges’ minority opinions, which are different from the majority opinions formed during the review period, after being recorded in the review book and submitted as a written record of the different opinions (minority report) prior to the pronouncement of a ruling, should be promulgated along with the ruling.

The ruling of a Civil Grand Chamber, or Criminal Grand Chamber, is legally binding on cases submitted by the submitting courts.

Unless otherwise prescribed by this Act, the provisions of Taiwan Code of Civil Procedure, and/or Code of Criminal Procedure, and/or other relevant regulations, that are not contradictory to the normative nature of Grand Chambers, shall also apply.

(The Clerk's Office)
The Supreme Court shall establish a Clerk's Office, staffed by a chief clerk with position ranking of grade 11 to 13 of the selection rank, to oversee administrative affairs under the supervision of the president, and staffed by 1st class clerks with position rankings of grades 8 to 9 of the recommendation rank; 2nd class clerks with position rankings of grades 6 to 7 of the recommendation rank; and 3rd class clerks with position rankings of grades 4 to 5 of the elementary rank. Each clerk manages records, documents, research assessments and general affairs, and provides information and litigation assistance. The Clerk's Office may be divided into sections and units. The position of a section chief shall be served concurrently by a 1st class clerk, and a unit chief shall be served concurrently by a 1st class clerk or a 2nd class clerk. There shall be no separate staffing for a chief.
The total number of the 1st class clerks, and the 2nd class clerks, as described in the preceding paragraph, shall not exceed one half of the total number of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class clerks.

(The Staffing of Interpreters, Technical Specialists, and Process Servers of the Supreme Court, and their Position Rankings)
The Supreme Court shall have 1st class interpreters with position rankings of grades 8 to 9 of the recommendation rank; 2nd class interpreters with position rankings of grades 6 to 7 of the recommendation rank; 3rd class interpreters with position rankings of grades 4 to 5 of the elementary rank; technical specialists with position rankings of grade 5 of the elementary rank or grades 6 to 7 of the recommendation rank; process servers with position rankings of grades 3 to 5 of the elementary rank; and clerk assistants and court attendants with position rankings of grades 1 to 3 of the elementary rank.
The total number of the 1st class interpreters, and the 2nd class interpreters, as described in the preceding paragraph, shall not exceed one half of the total number of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class interpreters.
The provisions of Article 23 paragraphs 3 and 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the Supreme Court.

(The Personnel Office)
The Supreme Court shall have a Personnel Office, staffed by one director with position ranking of grade 10 of the selection rank, one deputy director with position ranking of grade 9 of the recommendation rank or grade 10 of the selection rank; section clerks with position rankings of grade 4 to 5 of the elementary rank or grades 6 to 7 of the recommendation rank, of which the number of recommendation rank section clerks shall not exceed one third of the total number of section clerks. The Personnel Office shall handle affairs relating to personnel management and audits, pursuant to the law, and may be divided into units. The position of unit chief is served concurrently by a section clerk. There shall be no separate staffing for a chief.

(The Accounting Office and the Statistics Office)
The Supreme Court shall have an Accounting Office, and a Statistics Office, each staffed by one director respectively, with position ranking of grade 10 of the selection rank. As required, assistants may be staffed in each office, pursuant to the law, to handle matters relating to annual budgets, accounting and statistics, and the offices may be divided into units. The position of unit chief is served concurrently by an assistant. There shall be no separate staffing for a chief.

(The Information Management Office)
The Supreme Court shall have an Information Management Office, staffed by one director with position ranking of grade 10 of the selection rank, who serves under the supervision of the president and handles administrative affairs of the Information Management Office; and by developers with position rankings of grades 6 to 8 of the recommendation rank; and by information managers with position rankings of grades 6 to 7 of the recommendation rank; and by operators with position rankings of grades 3 to 5, to handle matters relating to information processing.

(deleted)

The applicability of precedent cases compiled by the Supreme Court, pursuant to the law, prior to the enactment of the amendment of this Act, on December 7, 2018, should be suspended, if the full text of the judgment is not available for reference.
The precedents, in which the applicability has not been suspended prior to the stipulation of the preceding paragraph, have the same effect as the Supreme Court judgments that have not been selected as precedents.
Within three years after the implementation of the amended Act on December 7, 2018, if there is doubt, that the precedents, or resolutions, on which the final and binding judgment of the people's case is based, are contradictory to the Constitution, the people may file a motion for Constitutional interpretations pursuant to the provisions of Article 5 Paragraph 1 Subparagraph 2 of the Judicial Yuan Justices Reviewing Cases Act.