Newsletter
COURT RULES ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR VIOLATIONS OF FAIR TRADE LAW
The Taipei District Court ruled in a recent decision that the 1999 amendment to the Fair Trade Law (FTL) requiring the pursuit of administrative remedies before judicial relief has resulted in a modification of criminal law. Therefore, under the principle of leniency and applying the law which exists at the time of judgment, defendants are not criminally liable for acts committed prior to the amendment of the FTL if they have not been previously sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
Under the FTL amendment, cases alleging abuses of monopolistic power (Article 10), cartel violations (Article 14), restricting competition (Article 19), and hindering fair competition (Paragraph 1 of Article 20) must be timely pursued through the FTC. Criminal penalties will be imposed if one does not terminate or remedy the violation in the applicable time period or after suspending the violation commits the same or similar violation again.