Law in Taiwan - Japanese Rule (1895-1945)

Japanese Rule (1895-1945)

Qing China was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) and Japan took over control of Taiwan and the Penghu islands. The process, however, was not smooth and Taiwan desperately resisted the Japanese takeover, and this resistance influenced the initial legislative institutions in Taiwan. The Government-General of Taiwan was created by an imperial ordinance known as the Organic Regulations of the Government-General of Formosa (ORGG). This ordinance gave the Governor-General of Taiwan the rank similar to a Premier or Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Tokyo. Among their powers were the power to control general political affairs, the power to command the military and naval forces, and the power to handle judicial affairs. In March 1896 the Imperial Diet (Japan’s legislature 帝國議会 Teikoku-gikai, currently the National Diet of Japan 国会 Kokkai) enacted the Law Relating to Laws and Ordinances to Be Enforced in Taiwan (Title 63, or Law 63). This law gave the Governor-General the power to issue ordinances (ritsurei) that have the same effect as Japanese law. Title 63 was extended every three years (article 6) until 1906 when it came under pressure from the public about its constitutionality. The law was often attacked in the Diet as illegal because it gave the Government General law-making power, not the Diet. As a result, in 1906, Title 63 was revised under Title 31, which restricted the powers of the Governor-General. These changes had little real effect and were revised further in 1921 under Title 3. Under Title 3, the power to issue ritsurei was restricted by the exception principle in Article 1. In theory, the effective law in Taiwan would increasingly be covered by Japanese Law. Sources of law during this time for Patent Law, Copyright Law, Trademark Law, Criminal Procedure, Civil Code, Commercial Laws, Civil Procedure, and Maritime Laws were from Japanese Law. Organic Regulations of Law Courts and Criminal Law were governed by ritsurei. This time period also marked a steady incorporation of western law into Taiwanese law.