Article 12

Local bar associations shall agree upon all applications for admission except under any of the following circumstances in respect of the applicant:

1. Any of the circumstances set forth in Paragraph 1 of Article 5 hereof;

2. The applicant has allegedly committed a crime of corruption, bribery, embezzlement, fraud or breach of trust, for which the maximum principal punishment is an imprisonment of not less than five years, or an offense for which the minimum principal punishment is an imprisonment of not more than one year, and the said crime is indicted by a public prosecutor. However, this restriction does not apply, if the verdict of the case in question is pronounced as, or changed to, not guilty, or if the said crime does not fall under the list in this subparagraph.

3. It has not been five years since the end of any serious violation by the applicant of the Attorneys' Code of Ethics except for the circumstances stated in the preceding two subparagraphs;

4. It has not been five years since the end of any serious violation by the applicant of the Civil Service Act or the Civil Servants' Code of Ethics during his or her period of service as a civil servant except for the circumstances stated in Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 hereof;

5. The applicant serves as any civil servant other than the special temporary positions of the central or any local authority. However, this restriction does not apply, if the person has been a public attorney or unless otherwise specially provided for in other laws; or

6. The applicant has been a general member of other local bar association.

After accepting any application for admission by an applicant, local bar associations shall review and decide whether to approve the application and notify the result to the applicant within 30 days of such acceptance. Any failure by local bar associations to make such decision within the stated period shall be deemed to make a decision in favor of the applicant's admission.

Where any document for such application submitted by the applicant is found lacking and may be supplemented, the local bar association shall order the applicant to supplement the application, and the period for such supplement shall not be counted in the review period stated in the preceding paragraph.

Where any failure of the local bar association to carry out such review is due to any act of God or other force majeure events, the review period referred to in Paragraph 2 hereof shall be suspended automatically until the local bar association resume such review.

 

Article 18

Attorneys shall apply to the bar association for withdrawal within one month after the date of occurrence of any of the following event; if such application is not made, the bar association shall remove their membership:

1. Their attorney license has been revoked or cancelled, or they have been suspended from legal practice or disbarred, by the Ministry of Justice;

2. The period for suspension of legal practice as penalty has not expired; or

3. They serve as any civil servant other than the special temporary positions of the central or any local authority. However, this restriction does not apply, if the person has been a public attorney or unless otherwise specially provided for in other laws.

In case of death of any attorney, the bar association shall take the initiative to remove his or her membership.

 

Article 23-1　

An attorney who handles legal affairs in the manner of a lawyer, exclusively for government agencies (organizations), or public schools, is a public attorney.

A public attorney should join the local bar association in the community where the agency (organization) or public school of his or her employment is located; if there is not a local bar association in the community where the agency (organization) or public school of his or her employment is located, he or she should then join the bar association of the nearest community.

A public attorney may act as an agent ad litem for a government agency (organization) or public school, and may act as an agent ad litem or defender, pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Service Protection Act, for a public official in a lawsuit involving the performance of the said official's duties.

 

Article 24

An attorney, except for an in-house attorney and a public attorney, should establish a principal law firm and join the local bar association in the place where such principal law firm is located as its general member; if there is no local bar association in the place where such principal law firm is located, such attorney shall join a neighboring local bar association at his or her option.

In the case specified in the preceding paragraph, any attorney who is incorporated into the region of a specific local bar association in accordance with Paragraph 1 of Article 51 of this Act after the implementation of this Act as amended on December 13, 2019 and has established a principal law firm in such region before the implementation of this Act as amended on December 13, 2019 may join either such local bar association or the local bar association in the proximity of his or her principal law firm as its general member.

An attorney may establish branch law firms outside the region of the local bar association in the place where the principal law firm is located.

An attorney may establish only one law firm in the region of each local bar association, and should not establish another law firm in other names.

Any attorney who establishes or changes a law firm or a branch law firm shall register with the National Bar Association through each corresponding local bar association within ten days of such establishment or change.

The items or changes that should be registered with respect to the law firm and branch law firm said in the preceding paragraphs shall be formulated by the Taiwan Bar Association and be reported by the Taiwan Bar Association to the Ministry of Justice for reference.

The Taiwan Bar Association shall submit the information mentioned in Paragraph 5 hereof to the Ministry of Justice.

 

Article 27

The Taiwan Bar Association and each local bar association should prepare an individual member roster specifying the following information:

1. Attorney’s name, gender, date of birth, number of identification documentation and domicile address;

2. Attorney’s License Number;

3. Summary of education and professional experience;

4. Name, address, email address and telephone number of the principal law firm, the legal person employing an in-house attorney or the agency (organization) or public school employing a public attorney;

5. Date of admission to the bar association; and

6. Prior disciplinary action(s);

The Taiwan Bar Association and each local bar association should make the member roster referred to in the preceding paragraph available to the general public for browsing by telecommunications, the Internet or other means the member roster referred to in the preceding paragraph, except for attorneys' date of birth, number of identification documentation and domicile address.

The Taiwan Bar Association should prepare a group member roster specifying the following information:

1. Name and address; and

2. Representative.

 

Article 28

A judicial officer or a public attorney shall not practice in the same court jurisdiction, prosecutors office, government agency (organization) or public school in which they served to perform the duties of an attorney for a period of three years after resigning their judicial post. An exception to this provision exists if the person has been suspended, voluntarily suspended or transferred from their judicial office for the past three years.

After completing such service, the said personnel in the preceding paragraph may then be employed by the court, prosecutors office, government agency (organization) or public school, in which he or she served to perform the duties of an attorney; the provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply when the said personnel performs his or her duties of an attorney in another agency (organization) or public school.