MEDIATION MECHANISM FOR CONSTRUCTION DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN TAIWAN

Mediation has long been praised as one of effective dispute resolution methods in the area of construction law. Article 85-1 of the Taiwan Government Procurement Act was amended and promulgated by presidential decree on July 4, 2007. The second paragraph of the Article elaborates explicitly, "In the event that the application for mediation referred to in the preceding paragraph is made by the supplier, the agency may not object to such application." Beyond that, if an unsuccessful mediation of a construction dispute is due to the agency's disagreeing with the proposal or resolution for mediation proposed by the Complaint Review Board for Government Procurement ("CRBGP"), the agency may not object to the arbitration filed by the supplier. It undoubtedly reinforces the importance of the mediation-arbitration procedure. Accordingly, this paper elaborates on the mediation mechanism in Taiwan in the framework of construction disputes first. After that, dispute resolution of a local public work case is provided to demonstrate the practice of construction mediation in Taiwan. Lastly, this study proposes suggestions on applying mediation to ease similar subsequent cases.