In 1914, our administrative litigation system originated in the Ping-jheng-yuan of the Peking Government. The Ping-jheng-yuan not only adjudicated administrative litigations, but also, through a subordinate office, Su-jheng-shih, impeached government officials who violated the law. However, after the nation was unified and the central government was organized as a five-yuan (five-branch) system in 1928, impeachment cases became the domain of the Control Yuan. The Organic Law of the Administrative Court and the Administrative Litigation Act were promulgated on November 17, 1932 and took effect on June 23, 1933. On June 24, 1933, the Judicial Yuan issued the Regulations on the Operation of the Administrative Court. Established on September 1, 1933, the Administrative Court, adopting one-level court system, made final judgments of which there was no appellate review. As the Administrative Litigation Act had just 34 articles providing for only a few essential principles, many procedural aspects were governed by the Civil Procedure Act by way of reference in the Administrative Litigation Act. In July 1981, in response to the trend of the rule of law, and for the purpose of protecting people`s rights and interests, and promoting public interest, the Judicial Yuan started out to overhaul the administrative litigation system. It took eleven years for drafts of the Administrative Litigation Act and the Organic Law of the Administrative Court to be completed. The new Administrative Litigation Act, promulgated on October 28, 1998 and taking effect on July 1, 2000, consisted of 308 articles. It abolished the second administrative appeal that had been mandatory prior to suing a government agency in an administrative court. In addition, it allowed more types of actions than the original actions for revocation, such as actions for declaration and actions to order performance etc. as well as expanded temporary protection of rights. The Organic Law of the Administrative Court, promulgated on February 3, 1999 and taking effect on July 1, 2000, adopted a two-level court system. Nowadays three High Administrative Courts, located in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung, are courts of factual trial and the first instance. The former Administrative Court was transformed into this Court - the Supreme Administrative Court, which is a court of legal review and the last instance. It has proved to be a significant reform of the administrative litigation system.
The Administrative Litigation Act was revised again on July 4, 2007. The amendment adds rules as to filing fees and the transfer of cases under wrong jurisdiction, and modifies rules regarding retrial and legal representatives in litigation. When taking effect on August 15, 2007, the amendment set a milestone for administrative litigation system.
In order to protect intellectual property rights, the Intellectual Property Court was established on July 1, 2008, at the level of the High Court or High Administrative Court. The Intellectual Property Court hears all disputes related to intellectual property. According to the Organic Law of Intellectual Property Court §3 (3) (4) — a special provision regarding the jurisdiction over administrative litigation, the Intellectual Property Court hears cases of administrative litigation at first instance and executes this kind of judgments; cases heard by the Intellectual Property Court may be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court.
