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Taiwan High Court

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Customer Service of High Courts

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I. Customer Service Desk

The Customer Service Desk is seated in a conspicuous place in the middle of the First Floor Lobby with an area of 179.8347m2, dealing with indictment distribution and receiving, charge collection, issuance of traveling subsidies for witnesses, litigation assistance and the reading of records by lawyers, etc.

Service Items:

1.Litigation Assistance:

Only offers litigation assistance on procedures. Does not offer litigation assistance for matters concerning substantial litigations or law.

Scope:

(a) Offers advice on procedures of appeals, applications to prosecutors for appeals and counter-appeals, as well as applications for retrials.
(b) Offers advice on paying legal fees.
(c) Offers advice on registering, submitting indictments, applying for fixing dates, extending periods or changing legal service offices.
(d) Answers parties¡¦ inquiries about the proceedings of the case and the court verdict. The parties can get information on the court day and the court verdict by inputting the case number into the touch-screen computer, or obtain the case number, the court day and the court verdict by sending in a written inquiry to the service.
(e) Offers advice on refunding bail, returning stolen articles or money and other expenses set forth in the regulations.
(f) Offer advice on procedures for seeking a guarantor, canceling detentions, pursuit and custody.
(g) Offer advice on reading files and records.
(h) Documents Assistance.
If the parties do not know how to write an indictment similar to the model, the staff can write it for them without charge. The Court provides the parties with models of common indictments for free.
(i) Offers advice on applying for the original copy of the court verdict, the certificate of the judgment confirmation and other service notices.
(j) Gives public legal assistance
Please refer to legal matters concerning the substantial litigations or law to the Public Law Service Department of the Taichung Bar Association, which is open from 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and handles registrations from 2:00 p.m. Please bring your ID card, identity documents and relevant documents. The Association is open to inquiries from people calling in person: it does not answer telephone inquiries.
(k) Sells and photocopies judicial complaint forms
Please buy the judicial complaint forms for court indictments from the staff. Please refer the documents to be copied to the staff.
(l) Replies to inquiries about the procedures of non-litigation cases.

2.Receiving and Dispatching:

Receives indictments and various letters and postal matters, and dispatches documents.

3.Collecting Fees, Disbursing Travel Expenses for Witnesses and Refunding Bail:

(a) The third instance of a civil action shall be charged trial fees, but retrials shall be exempt from trial fees. The party who has withdrawn his or her appeal or counter-appeal should apply for refund of one half (Have I got this correct?) of the paid trial fee. The party who has reached a settlement should apply for refund of one half of the paid trial fee within three months of the date of reaching the settlement.
(b) If a witness in a civil or criminal case testifies in court punctually, he or she can put in a claim for traveling expenses as a witness from the Customer Service Desk after filling in a claim form signed and issued by the judge and the secretary of the court.
(c) For the criminal cases with bail paid, if the accused is declared to be innocent, or exempt from accusation and punishment or has had the execution of a sentence temporarily suspended, the Court should handle the paid bail in accordance with the following procedures: for those who have paid bail to the Court, the Court will inform the original payer through the written notice to come to the cashier of the Customer Service Desk with his or her ID card, seal and (verb missing?) the bail receipt to reclaim bail; for those who have paid bail to a local court, the Court will inform the local court or prosecutors¡¦ office which has accepted the bail through a written notice to refund the bail and inform the original payer in the form of a copy.

II. Popularization Materials

In order to give the parties¡¦ a broad perspective on the proceedings, the Customer Service Desk provides the public with a wide range of materials on the law.

III. Other Customer Services

1.The Court Display

The digital displays are installed on top of the door of the court and in the parties¡¦, the lawyers¡¦ and the judges¡¦ lounges, showing the case number of the trial in progress so that the parties, lawyers, attorneys or other concerned parties can follow the proceedings. This ensures the court will be in session in a punctual manner unless the parties are late.

2.The Parties' Lounge

The Customer Service Desk and the court areas on the first, second and third floors are equipped with parties¡¦ lounges, which offer books and newspapers. Each lounge has one display screen to show all the courts so that the public can follow trial proceedings clearly.

3.Smoking Area and Drinking Fountain

Smoking is not permitted in the public areas or the court. Those who want to smoke should come to the smoking area outside the gate on the first floor. All courts offer drinking fountains and free paper cups.

4.Facilities and Wheelchairs for the Disabled:

The Court has various facilities for the disabled, such as wheelchair ramps, restrooms, parking lots and so on, as well as courtesy wheelchairs for the disabled.

5.Teleconferencing Inquiry System:

In order to simplify the procedures for witnesses testifying and appraisers identifying at court, the Judicial Yuan has installed a "Court Teleconferencing Inquiry System" for its courts of the first and second instances. The system makes use of video-conferencing and Internet technology to integrate information technology with judicial affairs and overcome limitations on space and distance. This system not only improves the efficiency of court operations but also offers the public a more convenient and diversified customer service.

In the past, those who were called to testify in court had to come to the appropriate court no matter where they lived, unless the court responsible commissioned other courts to interrogate the witness. Although those who testified in court could claim travel expenses, these journeys had a negative impact on their daily lives. In addition to these considerations, the public was concerned about how to protect the security of the witness.

A judge can now make use of the Court Teleconferencing Inquiry System to carry out remote interrogation directly. Therefore, witnesses or appraisers living in different cities or counties can apply to the judges responsible to appear in their nearest courts. After obtaining the consent of the responsible judges, the judges can interrogate the witnesses or appraisers directly using the video system and the Internet to further protect the security, interests and rights of the witnesses and the appraisers.

6.Suggestions Boxes:

The suggestions boxes are located in front of the office block, in the Customer Service Desk and the parties' lounge. Those who have suggestions on judicial affairs can write them down giving their name, sex, age, profession, ID number and address, and put them into the suggestions boxes for our reference.

7.Integrating Social Resources and Expanding Litigation Assistance:

In order to integrate social resources and to expand litigation assistance and public legal assistance, the Court invites those who are concerned with the welfare of the public to serve them as volunteers of the Court.

8.Chinese-English Bilingual Court Signs, Floor Plans and Direction Signs of Courts and Offices:

In order to ensure the public knows the location of the Court, the Court has placed direction signs on major routes going to the court outside, and floor plans and direction signs of courts and offices in conspicuous locations inside the court. The Court has also printed location map on envelopes to inform the parties involved or other concerned persons.

9.Giving Notice of Court Verdicts and Sending them out:

Where cases have had judgments rendered notice of the court verdicts must be sent out in accordance with regulations. This should be done on the current day, and for criminal cases, the registrars should send the court verdicts in the form of postal cards to the parties. If a member of the public cannot find a court verdict of any case that has had judgment rendered on the bulletin board after five days from the date of judgment, they should come to the Litigation Assistance Section to use the touch-screen computer to see the court verdict.

10.Other Service Facilities:

Courtesy umbrellas, nursery rooms and diaper changing areas are available.

  • Release Date:2020-11-09
  • Update:2020-11-18
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