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History

Taiwan has Taipei Advocates Union established during the Japanese colonial period.

In 1945, the Republic of China government assumed control of Taiwan, as well as the Taiwan High Court and the Taipei District Court, from the Japanese Governor-General's Office. In the same year, lawyers practicing in Taipei merged the Taipei Advocates Union and the Law Society of Taipei to form Taipei Bar Association (TBA). On August 15, 1947, TBA was officially established under the Lawyers Act.

1973, April- TBA the 13th Board of Directors and Supervisors（1973.4）

The history and development of the TBA can be divided into the following periods:

From 1900 to 1936

Taiwan's lawyer system and TBA’s history exists for more than 100 years.

The history of the TBA can be traced back to the "Taipei Litigation Agent Association" in 1898. On January 14, 1898 (Japanese Years Me-ji 31), Taiwan Governor-General's Office issued an order to implement the "Rules of Litigation Agents", which is the predecessors of Taiwan lawyers. They can be engaged by clients to serve as civil or criminal litigation lawyers in courts. Consequently, the predecessor of the TBA, the "Taipei Litigation Agent Association", was established in the same year.

In 1900 (Japanese Years Me-ji 33), Taiwan Governor-General's Office had announced the "Taiwan Advocates' Rules", which came into effect on February 1st, 1900. "Taipei Advocates' Association" then requested the Governor-General of Taiwan to approve its rules of association" (i.e. articles of association) through the Taipei District Court Prosecutor's Office. The term of the first President began on February 11, 1900. This was the first bar association established in Taiwan.

Since 1898, all the litigation agents or defense lawyers in Taiwan were Japanese for more than 20 years. At that time, Taiwanese were not permitted to take the "Higher Civil Service Examination Judicial Section" (the “Examination”). Before Taipei Imperial University established the relevant Department of Political Science in 1928, there were no schools in Taiwan offering law courses. If Taiwanese wanted to study law, they had to go to Japan.

Later, Ye Qing-Yao, a lawyer who was praised by the Taiwan Daily News as "the Proud of the Islanders’", graduated from the Law Department of Me-ji University. He petitioned to the Minister of Justice for that the Examination should not be different between Japanese and Taiwanese. He successfully fought for the qualification for Taiwanese in taking the Examination and passed the Examination in 1918. In 1919, Ye joined Taipei Advocates' Association and practiced law in Da-dao-cheng, and later transferred to the Taichung Advocates' Association. Ye was not only the first Taiwanese lawyer in Taiwan, but also the first Doctor of Law in Taiwan. His PhD thesis "Theory of Consent in Criminal Law" was awarded by Me-ji University on July 15, 1932.

In 1922, Zheng Song-jun became the second Taiwanese who passed the Examination. The following year, Cai Shi-gu, Chen Zeng-fu, Lai Yu-ruo and others also passed the Examination and returned to Taiwan to practice law.

These Taiwanese predecessors were not only our legal pioneers, but also human rights fighters. In 1924, Cheng Song-jun and Tsai Shi-ku became defendants in the "Police Administration Incident," and Yeh Ching-yao defended them as a lawyer. In 1925, the "Er-Lin Incident" occurred, and Cheng Song-jun and Tsai Shi-ku also defended for the cane farmers as lawyers.

From 1936 to 1945

In 1933, due to the amendment of Japan "Advocate Law", the Taiwan Governor-General's Office promulgated the corresponding "Taiwan Advocate Law Order" in 1935, which was implemented on April 1, 1936 (Japanese Years Sho-wa 11). District advocates' associations with legal personality must be established within 6 months in accordance with the regulations. In the same year, the Taipei Advocate’s Association passed the new articles of association by the general meeting of members and was established on September 30. The address was located at No. 1, Shu-yuan-cho, Taipei City (now Bo-ai Road and Guiyang Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City), and was recognized by the Governor-General's of Taiwan on October 1 (Notice No. 148).

According to an aerial photo taken by the U.S. military on April 1, 1945, the venue was located behind the current Judicial Building, near the intersection of Bo-ai Road and Gui-yang Street. It was located in the northwest corner of the street block on the base of the Judicial Building. Several buildings surrounded by trees could be seen.

From 1945-1962

The number of members increased up to 488,

Most of the members during this period obtained their lawyer qualifications through verification. However, in the late 1950s, lawyers who took formal university law education in Taiwan and obtained qualifications through the college entrance exam began to join the association and serve as association cadres.

13 January 1996 - A historic moment: TBA signed the TBA office purchase agreement.

From 1963 to 1971

18 May 1996 - TBA finally has a home: Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the TBA Office.

With greater human resources and finances at its disposal, the association attempted to improve members' practice environment. For instance, various templates were designed for sale, such as Power of Attorneys, not only for the convenience between the members and their clients but also for the increase of the Association's income. In 1964, TBA amended its articles and created the Lawyers' Disciplinary Committee and the Editing Committee of Lawyers Journal to strengthen attorneys' self-discipline and self-governance and to handle legal publications. During this period, the membership grew slowly. There were only 509 members in 1971.

From 1972 to 1981

In addition to striving for the members' rights, TBA endeavored to enhance legal professionalism and took part in social activism. In 1979, TBA initiated and was supported and approved by the Ministry of the Interior that land registration services can be handled by lawyers. At the end of June 1979, the first monthly Lawyers Journal was published. In 1981, a project to construct a TBA building was proposed. During the decade, the membership almost doubled, with a total of 896 members.

TBA Guildhall

From 1982 to 1990

6 January 2009 - Photo of past and present TBA Presidents.

TBA membership reached 1,286. In this period, TBA maintained its involvement in social activism. In 1983, TBA formulate “the Civil Legal Aid Service Guidelines”. In 1987, after martial law was lifted in Taiwan, TBA focused on human rights issues more proactively than before and promoted international legal interchanges.

From 1990 to 2000

The 19th board of directors pronounced "having a voice externally and doing practical work internally" as the key driving principle of TBA. In addition to announcing the Ten Constitutional Reform Declaration for Facing the Division of National Territory, TBA took social movements by participating Democracy Grand Parade at May 20, 1988.

In July 1990, “Lawyers Journal” was renamed to “Lawyers Magazine” and published nationally.

In 1994, the proposal of purchase and construction of the association building was adopted by the General Meeting.

In January 1996, the association building at the current site was purchased. Thanks to the donation enthusiastically made by all members.

In 1996, the 21st board of directors set up the “Lawyer and Humanity Committee” to conduct various humanity events, enhance the humanistic accomplishment of members and open up the period of diversified association affairs promotion.

In 1999, the Rules Governing On-the-job Training of Association Members was established to set up a regular mechanism for on-the-job training of lawyers. In 2000, the relevant provisions of “on-the-job training” were formally stipulated in the Articles of Association. During this period, the number of members increased to 2,440 by times.

TBA publications.

From 2001 to 2010

Changed the quarto Lawyer’s Journal into Lawyer’s Magazine and further revised into today’s Dissent Quarterly.

In order to improve the lawyer system, TBA proposed amendments to the Lawyers Act to abolish the limitations on local bar admissions, to adopt Practice Nationwide with One Bar Admission policy, and to reform Taiwan Bar Association.

In 2003, TBA held its first Law and Literature Award Contest. In order to manage the related affairs, the board of directors established the Publication Committee and Law and Literature Committee.

In 2004, the Rules Governing Mediation and Resolution of Disputes over Client-Attorney Contract was established to step up self-discipline and self-governance of practicing attorneys.

In 2005, “History of the Taipei Bar Association in the 20th Century” was published. The association affairs guiding principle of "Services Come First, Ideas Passed On" had been revealed since the 21st board of directors.

In 2007, the advanced course of "Criminal Defense Skills Workshop" was held for the first time.

In 2008, the “Measures for Issuing the Course Completion Certificates of On-the-job Training” and “Regulations Governing the Promotion of Strip Course in Specific Domains” were established to complete and entrench the on-the-job system.

In 2009, the “Bar Magazine” was renamed as “Dissent” quarterly, bridging the communication between the legal professionals and the general public and explaining the profound ideas in plain languages with humanistic strokes.

In 2010, the Articles of Association was amended to divide the members into main-district members and concurrent-district members, to reduce the membership fees in order to alleviate the burden of membership, and to take the lead in the planning of "Lawyer Liability Insurance" for members in order to allocate the risks associated with the practice of the members and protect the rights and interests of the clients.

From 2011 to 2020

In May 2011, during the election of directors and supervisors, Taipei Bar Association elected its first female President, and in December began offering childcare services for continuing legal education;

In January 2014, TBA piloted online continuing legal education on YouTube. To respond to changes in the practice environment resulting from the large number of candidates passing the bar examination, the general assembly approved an overall reduction in membership fees, with a special 50% discount for new members to reduce the burden on practitioners;

In 2016, the first "Family Day" event was held, courses were organized for law firm secretaries, and the "Law Firm Secretary Work Guide" was published, giving the Association a family atmosphere. In response to amendments to the Attorney Act, a draft version was proposed incorporating concepts such as "single membership, nationwide practice" and "organizational reform of the Taiwan Bar Association";

On January 1, 2017, the online continuing legal education platform "TBA Cloud" was completed and officially launched. To promote amendments to the Attorney Act, the 28th joint meeting of directors and supervisors resolved to withdraw from the Taiwan Bar Association, which was approved by majority vote of attending members at the general assembly on September 9. In November of the same year, the Taiwan Law Institute Preparatory Office was established to gradually achieve the goal of comprehensive training for Taiwan lawyers and enhancing their competitiveness;

In July 2018, the Association's second publication, the "Lawyer Law Journal," was published;

In 2019, the first "Taipei Bar Association Outstanding Pro Bono Lawyer" selection was held, with annual recognition of lawyers who have made outstanding contributions in the public interest field to encourage members to fulfill their social responsibilities. That same year, in cooperation with National Chengchi University's College of Law, a "Legal Practice" course was launched, marking a milestone in cooperation between the legal profession and academia. The "Taipei Bar Association Service APP" was also introduced, pioneering the integration of electronic lawyer certificates and personalized interactive functions. In response to lawyers being included in anti-money laundering regulations, templates for internal controls, risk assessments, and KYC forms were produced for members' use;

In 2020, the Association's publication "Dissent" was fully digitized online, promoting environmental protection and allowing readers to access and enjoy reading at any time. In response to the implementation of amendments to the Lawyers Act, the Association continued to monitor the progress of Taiwan Bar Association Articles of Association amendments to achieve the goal of freedom of practice for lawyers.

Dissent Quarterly.

2021-Present

In 2021, the official website established a reference database for disciplinary cases and continues to update it, making it convenient for members to query and understand specific ethical standards. The Association continued to compile and revise case handling manuals for various professional fields, completing the "Law Firm Operations Manual - Beginner's Guide," "Defending Innocence - Criminal Extraordinary Remedies Manual," "Family Affairs Case Handling Manual," "Commercial Case Adjudication Act Practice Manual," "Criminal Defense Manual," "Constitutional and Administrative Law Case Handling Manual," and "New Lawyer Guide," among others. Additionally, a series of lawyer communication skills workshops were organized to assist members with practice skills and reduce complaints and disputes.

In April 2022, after TBA’s multiple visits and consultations providing recommendations, the Taxation Administration of the Ministry of Finance issued a positive reply stating that membership fees or cross-regional practice fees paid by employers for employed lawyers performing their professional duties would be exempt from being included in the employed lawyers' taxable income, thus protecting the rights and interests of employed lawyers. The Association also cooperated with the Taipei Counseling Psychologists Association to organize a series of lectures to promote members' physical and mental health and well-being.