(1) Chief Justice

The Supreme Court has a Chief Justice of a specially appointed rank, who is in charge of all the Supreme Court’s administrative affairs while also serving as a Justice.

(2) Civil Panels and Criminal Panels

The Supreme Court has civil and criminal panels. Each panel is composed of one Presiding Judge and four Associate Judges to jointly decide cases by a majority. There are currently eight civil panels and nine criminal panels.

(3) Clerical Bureau

The Chief Clerk, the head of the Clerical Bureau, is responsible for conducting administrative affairs under the instructions of the Chief Justice, as well as overseeing all works within the Clerical Bureau. The Clerical Bureau consists of subordinate sections:

a. Clerk Section of each Civil and Criminal Court

Take charge of affairs of the registration of civil and criminal litigation cases, promulgate and notify the main text of the judgment, as well as check, receive and compile litigation files, and reproduce and deliver the original judgments.

b. Civil Section

Handle matters of civil files checking and receipt, case compilation, index registration, preliminary inspection of procedures, custody prior to case division, and case distribution.

c. Criminal Section

Handle matters of criminal files checking and receipt, case compilation, index registration, preliminary inspection of procedures, custody prior to case division, and case distribution.

d. Documentation Section

Handle custody of seals, document receipt, dispatch and printing, planning and recording of various meetings.

e. Research Development and Evaluation Section

Direct compilation and deliberation of the annual work plan, promote research and development tasks, track, control and assess major affairs, and manage documents.

f. General Affairs Section

Control cashier of expenses and payments, maintain and manage properties, and manage procurement and personnel matters.

g. Data Section

Handle the collection, analysis, and custody of archives, the editing of judgments and other publications of the Court and library management.

h. Litigation Counseling Section

Deal with answers to inquiries of litigation procedures, counsel procedure writ writing, advocate laws as well as promote activities of public convenience and politeness.

i. Court Police Room

Carry out court security, guard, and other affairs relating to judicial police.

(4) Personnel Office

Take charge of personnel appointment, removal, relocation, rewards and punishments, compensation, performance, and evaluation.

(5) Accounting Office

Handle affairs of annual budgeting and accounting, etc.

(6) Statistics Office

Direct affairs relating to civil and criminal cases and carry out statistical analysis of the conditions of judge case handling.

(7) Civil Service Ethics Office

Promote and straighten government ethics, prevent corruption, enhance integrity governance, maintain security, etc.

(8) Information Management Office

Take charge of comprehensive planning, construction, promotion, management and maintenance for all information systems of the Supreme Court.

Trial Affairs Conference and Other Statutory Business

​Trial Affairs Conference

a. Council of Judges

The Council of Judges is composed of all  judges who are actually handling cases, with the Chief Justice as the chairman, to decide on the distribution of relevant judicial affairs, the order of deputies, the allocation of judges in panels, the review and assessment of judges, the supervision and punishment of judges, and other matters that have significant impact on the rights and obligations of judges. Resolution of the conference requires the consent of more than half of the attendees present at the meeting attended by at least a majority of all judges.

b. Civil Panel Conference and Criminal Panel Conference

The Chief Justice may convene a Civil or Criminal Panels Conference to deliberate the judges’ judicial administrative matters or any other important matters. The Conference shall be attended by at least a majority of the judges, and requires the consent of more than half of the attendees present at the meeting.

c. Civil and Criminal Division-Chief Judges Conference

For issues of administrative or other important matters relating to trials, the Chief Justice may convene a Civil or Criminal Division-Chief Judges Conference for deliberation. For issues involving both civil and criminal fields, a conference consisting of Civil and Criminal Division-Chief Judges may be convened for joint deliberation.

d.  Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment to Civil Judges and Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment to Criminal Judges

The Council of Judges may establish a Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment. The Task Force shall be composed of the Chief Justice as the ex officio representative, one-third appointed by the Chief Justice, and two-thirds selected by the methods decided by the Council of Judges. The Supreme Court has set up the Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment for Civil Judges and the Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment for Criminal Judges during the first meeting of the Council of Judges in 2012. Two-thirds of the representatives shall be publicly elected by the judges of the Civil Division and the Criminal Division respectively. The terms of the appointed and elected judges are renewable and have no limit. Later, the second meeting of the Council of Judges in 2018 passed the  “Guidelines for Judicial Affairs Assignment for Supreme Court Judges”, which stipulates that assignment issues relating to judicial affairs shall be proposed by the Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment for Civil Judges and the Task Force on Judicial Affairs Assignment for Criminal Judges, and be resolved by the Council of Judges.

Other Statutory Business

a. Court of Compensation for Wrongful Detentions and Executions of the Judicial Yuan

In accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of the “Law of Compensation for Wrongful Detentions and Executions”, the judges of this Court of Compensation for Wrongful Detentions and Executions shall be concurrently held by the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court appointed by the President and the Chief Justice of the Judicial Yuan. The Court of Compensation for Wrongful Detentions and Executions reviews appeals against the ruling of the relevant agencies, as well as cases submitted for retrial by the Supreme Prosecutors Office. At present, the Court of Compensation for Wrongful Detentions and Executions has five judges.

b. Bar Discipline Review Committee

According to the provisions prescribed in Article 43 of Attorney Regulation Act and Paragraph 2, Article 2 of Lawyers Disciplinary Rules, members of this Committee shall consist of four Supreme Court Judges, two prosecutors of the Supreme Prosecutors Office, five lawyers, and two scholars. The Chief Commissioner of the Committee shall be elected by and from the committee members. The main function of this Committee is to review and re-examine events that contradict decisions were made by the Attorney Disciplinary Committee.

c. Committee for State Compensation Cases

To handle people’s claims for state compensation in accordance with the State Compensation Law, the Supreme Court establishes the Committee for State Compensation Cases according to relevant regulations. This committee shall consist of a chairman appointed by the Chief Justice, concurrent members of a number of Judges and the Chief Clerk to deal with the investigation, agreement, litigation, claims, and other matters relating to State compensation.

d. Committee for Disciplinary Reexamination of Civil Notaries

This Committee, in accordance with the regulations stipulated in Paragraph 2, Article 57 of The Notary Act, shall be organized by the Supreme Court judges and civil notaries, the chairman of this committee shall be elected by and from the committee members. The mission of this committee is to review and re-examine events that disagree with the decisions made by the Disciplinary Committee of Civil Notaries.

e. Committee for the Self-Discipline of Judges

This Committee, consisting of representatives of judges with the Chief Justice as an ex-officio member, is set up in accordance with the regulations prescribed in Article 23 of the “Judges Act” and Articles 2 and 3 stipulated in “Regulation for the Implementation of the Self-discipline of Judges at the Courts of All Levels” to handle self-discipline matters relating the Supreme Court’s judges with the purpose of maintaining moral integrity and professionalism as well as to enhance the judicial image.

f. Committee for Duty Assessment of the Judges

This Committee, consisting of three to nine members from the  representatives of the council and holding a term for one year, is set up in accordance with the regulations prescribed in Paragraph 2, Article 73 of the “Judges Act” and Articles  8, 9 and 11 stipulated in “Regulation for the Implementation of the Self-discipline of Judges at the Courts of All Levels”. The Chairman of this Committee is appointed by the Chief Justice who is responsible for convening and presiding over the meetings to carry out the initial evaluation for the duty assessments of judges.

g. Judgment and Grand Court Magistrate Literature Editing Committee

Pursuant to Paragraph 1, Article 86 of the Administrative Code of the Supreme Court, a Judgment and Grand Court Magistrate Literature Editing Committee shall be established. This committee shall be composed of the Chief Justice or a Division-Chief Judge appointed by the Chief Justice as the chairperson, concurrent members of several civil and criminal Division-chief Judges and judges to be designated by the Chief Justice. This committee is responsible for the editing and publication of the rulings of the civil and criminal Grand Court magistrate and statements of adverse opinions, rulings on proposals, rescissions of previous rulings on proposals, rulings under procedures through unified legal interpretations, and other materials of court judgment for public reference.

h.Screening Committee

In accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Civil Service Promotion Act, this Committee is set up to examine and verify the promotion issues of the Supreme Court's staff based on the open, fair, and impartial principles stated in the personnel promotion system.

i. Committee for the Evaluation of Performance

In accordance with the provisions of Article 15 of the “Public Functionaries Merit Evaluation Act”, this committee is set up to review and appraise the award and punishment of personnel year-end performance, project performance, and regular performance.

• Release Date:2020-12-17
• Update:2023-08-31