New proceedings aimed at resolving disputes between government agencies and individual citizens more efficiently and more fairly are set to go into effect today.
In 1998, the legislature amended the Administrative Litigation Law to adopt a new procedure to handle disputes between government agencies and citizens.
These amendments come into effect today.
The difference between the old and new systems is substantial.
The old law required any individual who was dissatisfied with an administrative agency's decision to file a first, and if necessary, a second complaint to the agency involved.
When these administrative avenues were exhausted, the citizen could then take the dispute to the administrative court, where the agency's decision would be reviewed and could possibly be overturned.
However, even if the agency was found to be at fault, the court could not order the agency to compensate the individual.
For instance, in the past, a Taiwan citizen would often have to fight for years to receive a refund for any tax overpayment, even if it was for just a small amount.
In order to get the refund, the person was required to file a complaint to the district taxation authorities to which the person had paid the tax.
If the person failed to get the refund at this level, he or she had to then file another complaint to the central agency to which the district taxation authorities were subordinate.
Having exhausted these remedies, the person could then resort to the court for a review on whether the authorities concerned were at fault.
However, even if the agency was found to be at fault, the court could not order the authorities to pay the refund.
If the taxation authorities ruled in favor of the agency, the plaintiff could do nothing but go through the entire proceedings -- first complaint, second complaint, and litigation -- all over again.
The old system was widely criticized for favoring government agencies.
Decisions would take a long time and were often not in favor of the applicants.
Statistics show that a very small proportion of challenged administrative decisions, 10 percent on average, had been overturned by the administrative court.
Under the new system, if a complaint is rejected by an agency, a citizen can turn immediately to the administrative court for a decision.
The administrative court, which previously had no appeal mechanism, has now been divided into two levels -- the administrative high court and the administrative supreme court -- to allow appeals to go forward more quickly.
Most importantly, the administrative court has been given broader discretion to order an accused agency to remedy any wrongdoing that has been done to a plaintiff.
For example, if a court finds a construction authority to be at fault for not issuing a license to a contractor, it can order the construction authority to do so in its judgment.
Moreover, under the new system, the plaintiff is able to claim compensation through the administrative court, which many claim is a better system.
He or she would have had to file a civil litigation suit to pursue compensation under the old system.
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