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Chapter Law Content

Title: Attorney Regulation Act CH
Category: Ministry of Justice(法務部)
Chapter 7 Associations
Section 2 National Bar Association
Article 62
The National Bar Association is a legal person whose competent authorities should be the competent central social administrative competent authorities and whose industry competent authority should be the Ministry of Justice.
The National Bar Association should aim at promoting the development of a society ruled by law, improving the environment for legal practice, implementing the self-regulation and autonomy of attorneys, cultivating legal talents, enhancing the quality of legal services, and protecting human rights.
Article 63
The members of the National Bar Association shall be categorized into the following two types:
1. Individual members: General members of local bar associations; and
2. Group members: Local bar associations.
The local bar associations are ex officio members of the National Bar Association.
Article 64
The National Bar Association shall have the board of directors and the board of supervisors. Except for the term of the directors and supervisors elected in accordance with Article 142 hereof, the number and composition of the board of directors and the board of supervisors shall be as follows:
1. Board of directors: 37 to 45 directors, one of whom shall be the chairman and two shall be vice chairmen. Except that the chairmen of the local bar associations concurrently act as the ex officio directors, the chairman, vice chairmen, and other remaining directors shall be directly elected by individual members through communications or electronic voting.
2. Board of supervisors: 11 to 15 supervisors who shall be directly elected by individual members through communications or electronic voting.
The term of office of the directors and supervisors stated in the preceding paragraph shall not exceed three years, and they may be re-elected for one additional term of office.
If the chairman of a local bar association is its special member, its joint meeting of the board of directors and supervisors shall appoint a director who is a general member to concurrently act as an ex officio director stated in Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 1 hereof.
The National Bar Association may have managing directors. The number of managing directors shall not exceed one-third of that of the total directors. Except for the chairman and vice chairmen who are ex officio managing directors, the remaining seats of managing directors shall elected from among the directors mentioned in Paragraph 1 hereof.
The National Bar Association may have managing supervisors. The number of managing supervisors shall not exceed one-third of that of the total supervisors, and they shall be elected from among the supervisors mentioned in Paragraph 1 hereof. If there are three or more managing supervisors, one supervisor shall be elected from among themselves as the convener of the board of supervisors.
The number, election and dismissal of the chairman, vice chairmen, managing directors, directors, convener of the board of supervisors, managing supervisors and supervisors shall be formulated by the National Bar Association in accordance with its charter, except for the term elected in accordance with Article 142 hereof.
Article 65
The member representative meeting of the National Bar Association should discuss and approve the following matters:
1. Resolution on budgets and acknowledgement of final accounts;
2. Formulation and amendment of the association's charter;
3. Formulation and amendment of the Attorneys' Code of Ethics;
4. Formulation and amendment of the rules of procedure for member representative meetings;
5. Resolution on and approval of major property disposals;
6. Resolution on and approval of dissolution of the association; and
7. Other matters stipulated in the association's charter.
Article 66
The chairman of the National Bar Association shall be the representative of such association.
If the chairman is unable to perform his/her duties for any reason, the vice chairman shall act as his/her representative; if there is no vice chairman or if the vice chairmen are unable to perform their duties, managing directors (if any) shall be appointed by the chairman to act as his/her representative; if there is no managing director, the chairman shall appoint a director to act as his/her representative; if the chairman fails to or is unable to appoint a director as his/her representative, the managing directors or directors shall elect one director from among themselves to act as the chairman's representative.
Article 67
The National Bar Association shall hold one member representative meeting convened by the chairman every year. The chairman shall convene an interim meeting upon the request of one fifth of the association’s member representatives or the request of the board of supervisors.
The following persons shall attend member representative meetings:
1. Ex-officio member representatives: All directors and supervisors shall serve as Ex-officio member representatives concurrently.
2. Individual member representatives: Individual member representatives shall be directly elected by all individual members through communications or electronic voting. Their term of office shall be a maximum of three years, and they are eligible for re-election; their number, term of office, election and dismissal shall be determined by the National Bar Association in accordance with its charter, except for the term elected in accordance with Article 142 hereof.
3. Group member representatives: Local bar associations shall appoint their general members in their joint meetings of the board of directors and supervisors to serve as group member representatives, who may be re-appointed at any time; the number of such group member representatives shall be determined by the National Bar Association in accordance with its charter.
Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 6 of Article 56 hereof shall apply mutatis mutandis to the number of attendance and matters to be resolved in the member representative meetings.
Article 68
The National Bar Association shall submit its charter to the Ministry of Justice and the competent central social administrative authorities for reference. The same procedures will apply in case of any amendment to its charter.
After Attorneys' Code of Ethics have been approved by the association's member representative meeting, the National Bar Association shall submit the Attorneys' Code of Ethics to the Ministry of Justice for reference.
Article 69
The charter of the National Bar Association shall include the following matters:
1. Name and location;
2. Purpose, mission and organization;
3. Number, term of office, duties, authority, election and dismissal of the chairman, vice chairman, directors and supervisors and alternate directors and supervisors;
4. Number, term of office, duties, authority, election and dismissal of any managing director, convener of the board of supervisors, or managing supervisor (if any);
5. Number of group member representatives;
6. Functions of the board of directors and the board of supervisors;
7. Remuneration to the chairman (in case of a full-time chairman);
8. Rules of procedures for member representative meetings and board of directors/supervisors meetings;
9. Rules of admission and withdrawal for individual members;
10. Membership fees;
11. Rights and obligations of its members;
12. Matters concerning the maintenance and promotion of members' common interests, and the preparation and transmission of members' personal data;
13. Matters relating to procedures for attorneys' practice in the country or across regions, billable matters, amounts, fee collection, and preferential offering for pro bono cases;
14. Ways of administrative assistance and financial support for the local bar associations;
15. Matters and methods of compliance with attorney ethics;
16. Methods of notice regarding meetings and agendas;
17. Implementations of legal aid, legal services for the general public, and other charitable activities in society;
18. On-the-job continuing legal education for attorneys;
19. Matters relating to the insurance and welfare of attorneys;
20. Budgeting and accounting;
21. Disclosure of final accounts for income and expenditure, cashier accounts, assets and liabilities and property catalogs;
22. Procedures for disposal of major properties; and
23. Procedures for amendment to the charter.
The financial status of the local bar associations and the number of their general members, special members, and cross-region practicing attorneys should be taken into consideration in determining the ways of the financial support described in Subparagraph 14 of the preceding paragraph hereof, in order to enable them to maintain effective operation.
Article 70
When holding a member representative meeting, or a board of directors/supervisors meeting, the National Bar Association shall report to the competent central social administrative authority and the Ministry of Justice.
Article 71
Where the National Bar Association violates any law or its charter, or encumbers public welfare, the competent central social administrative authorities may warn it, cancel its resolution, or order it to suspend whole or a part of its business, and to improve such violation or encumbrance within a specified time limit; in case any improvement is not made within the time limit or such violation or encumbrance is serious, the competent central social administrative authorities may impose the following penalties on the National Bar Association:
1. Removal or dismissal of its staff;
2. Governmental intervention within a limited time period; and
3. Dissolution.
Warning or cancellation of resolutions referred to in the preceding paragraph may also be administered by the Ministry of Justice.
Article 72
The National Bar Association shall report to the competent central social administrative authorities and the Ministry of Justice the following information:
1. Member roster, and information on admissions to and withdrawals from the National Bar Association;
2. Minutes of member representative meetings and board of directors/supervisors meetings; and
3. Its charter and resume book of employed staff.