Considerations before filing civil lawsuits in Taiwan

Recent updates in Taiwan’s judicial system present new considerations for cross-border parties: (1) the revised litigation fee under the 2023 Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) amendments and the updated Judicial Yuan (the highest judicial organ in Taiwan) fee rates, which impact the initial cost-benefit analysis of filing a suit; and (2) the systemic push for mediation, making it a viable option for most commercial disputes.

Litigation costs

Judicial Yuan increases court fee rates after 20 years. Taiwan’s civil court fees are calculated based on the claim value, reflecting a user pays approach to judicial services. Taiwan’s civil court fees had not changed for more than two decades. With social conditions changing, the Judicial Yuan implemented an increase on 30 December 2024 for civil lawsuits under the CPC. The revised fee structure increases payable amounts in tiers by claim value.

As a rough reference for monetary claims, court fees may fall around the following ranges. Because the calculation is tiered (progressive), the exact amount varies by case.

(1) Claims in the NTD1 million (USD31,600) to NTD10 million range: about 1.2% to 1.3% (first instance); 1.8% to 2% (appeals);

(2) Claims in the NTD10 million to NTD100 million range: about 0.9% to 1.2% (first instance); 1.4% to 1.8% (appeals); and

(3) Claims above NTD100 million: generally below 0.9% (first instance); below 1.4% (appeals).

For example, for a NTD100 million claim, the first-instance court fee was NTD892,000 before the adjustment and NTD910,500 after the adjustment.

There are two practical angles to be evaluated, especially for foreign parties. First, in Taiwan civil proceedings, the plaintiff is required to prepay court costs when initiating a lawsuit, and an appellant must prepay appeal fees when filing an appeal. Under a final and irrevocable judgment, the losing party is ordered to bear the litigation costs, excluding attorneys’ fees. Accordingly, before commencing civil litigation in Taiwan, a plaintiff should assess the expected litigation costs based on the amount in dispute as part of the decision-making process.

Second, following the 2024 amendment, court fees may increase and the amount of security for litigation costs may likewise be raised. Under article 96 of the CPC, where a plaintiff has no domicile, office or business presence in Taiwan, and cannot demonstrate sufficient assets in Taiwan to cover costs, the court may order the plaintiff to post security for litigation costs after the defendant files the petition. In practice, courts often set the security amount by looking at the court fees that could arise across multiple instances.

Because fee rates have increased, the required security may also increase. When budgeting, it is therefore important to consider not only first-instance fees but also the possibility that security could tie up roughly 3% to 4% of the claim value, in addition to attorneys’ fees and other out-of-pocket litigation costs.

Claim value for court fees now captures pre-filing incidental amounts. Before 2023, most Taiwanese courts calculated court fees based on the principal claim amount. Pre-filing incidental claims, such as interest, were generally not included in the fee calculation.

Following an amendment to article 77-2 of the CPC, effective 1 December 2023, the statute specifies that incidental claims accrued prior to the filing of the civil suit are included in the claim value to calculate the litigation costs, whereas only the incidental claims arising after the filing are excluded.

In practice, this means that where the relief sought includes interest that is accrued before filing, the accrued amount is typically calculated up to the day before filing and included in the claim value for court fee purposes. The Supreme Court has also affirmed that pre-filing damage claims, pre-filing contractual penalties and unjust enrichment must be included in the claim value for court fee calculation.

Accordingly, when determining the timing of filing and the scope of relief sought – principal and interest alike – a plaintiff should consider the incremental court costs attributable to accrued interest.

For example, if the plaintiff sent a demand letter to the defendant before filing suit, triggering the accrual of interest from that point, then the interest accrued between the demand letter and filing will be included in the court fee calculation base. More broadly, litigation budgeting should reflect not only the principal amount claimed, but also the cost consequences of how incidental claims are framed.

Court mediation

In Taiwan, mediation is integrated into civil procedure and often functions as a key gateway to, and exit from, litigation. It is not limited to early-stage settlement attempts and can be used throughout the system, and produce enforceable outcomes when successful.

Mediation happens before and during litigation. At the pre-litigation stage, certain disputes are subject to mandatory mediation, including specified property-related disputes under article 403 of the CPC (commonly including monetary claims of less than NTD500,000). In such cases, an action may proceed only after mediation fails.

For other disputes, mediation is voluntary. Parties may still choose to petition for court mediation before filing suit. For newly docketed matters, courts also commonly inquire at an early stage whether parties are willing to attempt mediation before trials.

During pending litigation, the court may attempt settlement at any time, and cases may be referred to mediation with party consent. This structure exists across all instances.

Historically, third-instance mediation was uncommon. Since March 2021, the Supreme Court has adopted a mechanism to refer appropriate cases to mediation, creating a meaningful settlement window before final adjudication.

Court-annexed mediation in practice: Judges as institutional drivers. Taiwan’s mediation system is usually court-annexed. Mediation is typically conducted by court-appointed mediators, many with legal training or specialised professional backgrounds. In some cases, especially when negotiations stall, judges may personally conduct mediation and, where appropriate, propose solutions to facilitate agreement.

When conducting mediation, judges may reveal preliminary views on the issues through questions and comments, giving parties a sense of litigation risk and helping to break the deadlock.

While statements and concessions made in mediation generally may not be used as the basis of a judgment, parties’ credibility, consistency and co-operation displayed in mediation can still shape how the judge perceives the overall dispute. This differs from systems where judges keep a distance from settlement talks.

A successful mediation produces a mediation record that has the same legal effect as a final judgment and constitutes an enforceable title for compulsory enforcement. Where mediation occurs after a lawsuit has been filed, plaintiffs may petition for a two-thirds refund of the court fees paid. If mediation fails, parties may proceed to file a lawsuit or continue the existing litigation.

Court mediation as an exit option from the dispute. Taiwan’s policy encourages quicker dispute resolution and reduces unnecessary trials.

In addition to court-facilitated mediation after a civil action has been filed, a plaintiff may instead file a standalone petition for mediation with the court. The court fee for such a mediation petition ranges from zero to NTD5,000, depending on the amount in dispute.

Recent data points to a clear trend: In the past decade, mediation caseloads have increased across Taiwan’s civil courts, and mediation is now a regular part of how disputes are handled and concluded.

(1) At the district courts, the mediation success rate is generally around 50% to 55%.

(2) At the high courts, the number of concluded mediation cases from 2017 to 2024 also demonstrates growth of nearly sixfold. The share of mediation cases among all concluded civil cases in high courts has grown significantly, from about 6.5% in 2017 to nearly 21% in 2024.

(3) At the Supreme Court, mediation still involves fewer cases overall, but successful mediations have increased year by year. According to the Judicial Yuan, Supreme Court mediation successes have involved construction, real estate, family law and contract disputes, with claim amounts ranging from NTD5.6 million to more than NTD70 million, often after more than a decade of multi-instance litigation.

Takeaways

Taiwan’s recent court fee reforms make litigation planning more cost-sensitive than before. Pre-filing interest and similar accruals may increase the claim value used to calculate court fees, and foreign plaintiffs may also face security-for-costs orders.

At the same time, court-annexed mediation has become an increasingly common route to resolve disputes. Driven in large part by systematic judicial involvement, Taiwan maintains a generally high court-mediation success rate, at about 45% to 55%. Where cost and timing are critical considerations, filing a petition for mediation may serve as a viable alternative to commencing a civil action or continuing pending litigation.