(The Court Hierarchy)
Courts, as referred to in this Act, include the following three levels:
1. District court;
2. High court;
3. Supreme court.

(The Court Authority)
Courts try civil, criminal and other litigation cases as provided by law, in addition to having jurisdiction over non-litigation cases.

Trials in a District Court are conducted by a single judge or by a collegial panel of three judges.
Trials in a High Court are conducted by a collegial panel of three judges.
Trials in the Supreme Court, unless otherwise prescribed by law, are conducted by a collegial panel of five judges.

(Presiding Judge)
In a collegial trial, the division chief judge shall serve as the presiding judge; if there is not a division chief judge, or if the division chief judge is not available, a division judge with the most seniority by experience shall serve the position, and the judge with the most seniority by age shall serve the position if more than one judge has the same seniority by experience.
In a single judge trial, the said judge shall assume the duty and authority of a presiding judge.

(The Effect of Case load Allocation Non-conformance to this Act)
In a litigation trial, although the allocation of a judge's case load or the order of rotation may not be in conformance with the provisions as stipulated in this Act, the effect of the trial is still valid.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis to non-litigation cases.

(Provisions for the Main Court Apply to Branch Courts)
All provisions for the main court of high courts or district courts are applicable to the trials of litigation cases and the handling of non-litigation cases in their respective branch courts.

(The Divisions and Changes in Jurisdiction of Courts)
The divisions and changes of jurisdiction of district courts and their branches, and of the high court and its branches shall be determined by the Judicial Yuan.