Regulating Unfair Terms and Consumer Protection under Taiwan Law

Abstract

This chapter examines how the contract law of Taiwan responds to extremely one-sided, onerous, or otherwise unfair terms, such as exclusions or limitations of liability, penalty clauses, or restraint of trade clauses. It discusses the overt judicial control of such terms under specific legislation, sometimes targeted exclusively at standard terms or terms in consumer contracts. Attention is also paid to the enforcement mechanisms for measures of consumer protection. The chapter further analyses how the Taiwanese courts have exercised a more indirect control by employing traditional general contract law doctrines, including the rules on procedural fairness, in order to protect parties against the imposition of unfair terms. A number of hypothetical clauses are analysed to illustrate how Taiwanese courts regulate unfair contract terms in practice.