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Chapter Law Content

Chapter 4 Council of Judges
Article 24
The respective court and its branch courts shall each install a Council of Judges to resolve the following matters:
1. Allocation of judicial affairs for the next year, acting sequence, and assignment of judges for the penal trial in accordance with the law and regulations promulgated by the Judicial Yuan on the assignment of judicial affairs.
2. Recommendations for the judges' evaluations.
3. Recommendations for the supervisory disposition of a judge under Article 21.
4. Other recommendations having material impact on the rights and obligations of judges.
The individuals to whom the resolution referred to in Section 1 of the preceding paragraph is directed do not include those judges being detailed to other agencies for special assignments.
If it should be necessary to alter the judicial assignments due to the increase or decrease of caseload after the annual allocation is done, the president of a court may make such adjustment after consulting with related division-chief judges and other judges, provided, however, that in the event a large scale alteration of judicial assignments for judges is necessary due to transfer or relocation of judges, the adjustment shall be subject to the resolution by the Council of Judges.
Where the president of a court believes a resolution of the Council of Judges concerning matters stipulated in Paragraph 1, Section 1 or the proviso to Paragraph 3 is in violation of the law, the president shall, within five days since the resolution, submit in writing and attach with ratio decidendi to the Council of Judges for reconsideration. If the original resolution is affirmed by a quorum of two-thirds of judges and a vote of more than three-fourths of those present, the president may, within five days since the affirmation is rendered, petition the Disciplinary Chamber of the Judiciary for a declaratory resolution that the affirmation violates the law.
Once a resolution of the Council of Judges concerning matters stipulated in Paragraph 1, Section 1 or the proviso to Paragraph 3 is declared unlawful by the Disciplinary Chamber of the Judiciary, that resolution shall be null and void. Where the Council of Judges does not resolve on the reconsideration within fifteen days upon receipt of the written request, or does not affirm the original resolution, the original resolution shall become invalid.
Under the circumstances stipulated in the preceding paragraph, the president of the court may provide an alternative judicial assignment proposal in lieu of the original resolution.
In reviewing a petition under Paragraph 4, the Disciplinary Chamber of the Judiciary shall issue its ruling within thirty days upon admission of the petition, and may do so without oral argument.
The president of a court shall reject the recommendations in a resolution of the Council of Judges concerning matters stipulated in Paragraph 1, Sections 2 to 4, if deemed to be in violation of the law or difficult to enforce, and shall provide in writing or through other appropriate means, an explanation within one month.
Article 25
The Council of Judges shall be composed of all judges actually conducting cases, chaired by the president of the court, chairperson and convened semiannually, except that no meeting may be convened if there should be no item on the agenda. When necessary, an ad hoc meeting may be convened by the chairperson or the proposition of more than one-fifth of the judges.
Except the affirmation under Paragraph 4 of the preceding article, a resolution of the Council of Judges shall be reached with a quorum of more than half of the judges and consented to by more than half of those present. The chairperson shall enter the vote in the event of a tie. For judges who cannot attend with cause, a proxy may be submitted to delegate the attendance to other judges, provided, however, that each judge may only delegate to one other judge.
The number of proxies shall not exceed one-third of the quorum referred to in the preceding paragraph.
Article 26
The Council of Judges may establish a Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment or other task force to study matters stipulated under the respective sections of Article 24, Paragraph 1 and submits its opinions to the Council of Judges for resolution.
In the event of occurrences provided in the proviso to Article 24, Paragraph 3, the Task Force referred to in the preceding paragraph may also draft the alternative assignment proposal(s) and submit to the Council of Judges for resolution.
The assignment proposals referred to in the preceding two paragraphs shall take into consideration the need of trial affairs, the expertise of the undertaking judges, stability in carrying out duties, and fairness on the burden of workload.
The Task Force referred to in Paragraph 1 shall be composed of judges' representatives for the term of one year. The numbers and re-electability shall be determined by the Council of Judges.
The judges' representatives referred to in the preceding paragraph shall include the president of the court as an ex officio representative, one-third to be designated by the president, and two-thirds selected by the methods determined by the Council of Judges.
Article 27
Where judges' representatives referred to in the preceding article can no longer carry out duties due to transfer or other reasons, the vacancies shall be filled respectively in accordance with the same method of selection and for the rest of the term.
Article 28
The president of the court or his/her designee shall chair the meetings of the Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment A resolution of the meeting requires a quorum of more than two-thirds of the judges' representatives and consent by more than half of those present. The chairperson shall enter the vote in the event of a tie.
Article 29
The Judicial Yuan shall promulgate the procedure rules for the Council of Judges, enforcement of resolutions and recommendations as well as related matters concerning the composition and operations of the Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment or other task forces.