A number of channels are open to government agencies in Taiwan to deal with the issues touched on here. They could for example, provide legal or administrative advice to the defendant. There is also no reason they could not communicate with the US side. Under US law, it is permissible to submit opinions and information relating to cases even when they are still in process.
It is not uncommon for the court of the next instance to receive what are referred to as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs from government departments, civic groups, civil rights groups and justice ministries. Such briefs consist of unsolicited, volunteered information or learned treatises felt to have some bearing on the case by an individual or organization not party to the case at hand.
For example, when Taiwan was not allowed to take part in the 1980 Winter Olympics in the US, a Taiwanese athlete, Liang Jen-kui (梁仁貴), appealed to the New York State Court to have the Olympic Committee’s decision overturned to allow Taiwan to compete. On the advice of the US State Department, the court ruled that this was a political, not a legal, matter.
The US government also once tried to pressure the Taiwanese government over an intellectual property rights case, using a variety of methods and even trying to influence the outcome of the ongoing case. In response, the Taiwanese government made its position clear, through various channels, to the US government and then shared the information it had with countries in which fines had already been awarded.
We could make a start by ensuring we have all the relevant information at our fingertips. This is something government, industry — including workers’ unions and trade associations — and academia could take responsibility for, by collecting relevant data, training experts in the field and sending officials abroad to examine overseas reports.
This kind of information would be invaluable to Taiwanese exporters, ensuring they are both forewarned and forearmed, which would prevent companies from running into trouble abroad, and in the event that they did, would help to reassure them that they have the full support of people back home.
Yang Chung-sen is a partner at the New Hope law firm and a chair professor at National Taiwan University.
TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER
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