Selecting the competent court and governing law in Taiwan-related cases

Article 5 of the Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on Several Issues Concerning Jurisdiction in Foreign-Related Civil and Commercial Cases specifies that reference is to be made to the provisions when dealing with the issue of jurisdiction in civil and commercial disputes involving parties from Taiwan, determining that reference is to be made to regulations on foreign-related civil and commercial cases when instituting legal action on the mainland in Taiwan-related civil and commercial cases. In practice, courts do indeed try Taiwan-related commercial cases in accordance with regulations on foreign-related civil and commercial cases.

The selection of the competent court and governing law in relevant cases is the major condition on which Taiwan-related commercial cases can be instituted in mainland China.

Determining the competent court

Pursuant to article 3 of the foreign-related provisions, the following types of cases constitute foreign-related civil and commercial cases: (1) foreign-related contract and tort disputes; (2) letter of credit disputes; (3) applications for vacating, recognizing and enforcing international arbitration awards; (4) examinations of the validity of foreign-related civil and commercial arbitration clauses; and (5) applications for the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments and rulings of foreign courts.

Alex Hsin is a senior partner and Craig Zhou is an associate at Martin Hu & Partners