Legal Reform in Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945

Auteur

Tay-sheng Wang is professor of law at National Taiwan University.

Texte du rabat

Tiawan's modern legal system -- quite different from those of both traditional China and the People's Republic -- has evolved since the advent of Japanese rule in 1895. Japan had gradually adopted Western law during the 19th-century and when it occupied Taiwan -- a frontier society composed of Han Chinese settlers -- its codes were instituted for the purpose of rapidly assimilating the Taiwanese people into Japanese society.In the early colonial period, this legal reform familiarized the Taiwanese with particular Japanese Westernized laws, although Taiwanese customary rule remained. After the 1920s, Westernized laws in colonial legislation gradually penetrated into society, laying the foundation for the independent evolution of the legal system after 1945.Until recently, censorship in Taiwan prevented scholars from examining this subject; Tay-sheng Wang's comprehensive study lays a solid foundation for future analyses of Taiwanese law. It documents how Western traditions influenced the formation of Taiwan's modern legal structure through the conduit of Japanese colonial rule and demonstrates the extent to which legal concepts diverged from the Chinese legal tradition and moved toward Western law.

Résumé
Documents how Western traditions influenced the formation of Taiwan's legal structure through the conduit of Japanese colonial rule and demonstrates the extent to which legal concepts diverged from the Chinese legal tradition and moved toward Western law. This work is an analysis of the history and evolution of "western" law in Taiwan.

Contenu
Contents Preface Introduction 1/Background of Legal Reform 2/Reception of Western Law in Colonial Legislation 3/Modern Judiciary in the Colony 4/Criminal Justice and Changing Society 5/Westernization of Civil Justice 6/Appraisal and Legacy Conclusion Appendix A/Development of Taiwanese Law Appendix B/The Law Relating to Laws and Ordinances To Be Enforced in Taiwan Appendix C/The Civil, Commercial, and Criminal Law Appendix D/The Bandit Punishment Law Glossary Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index