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When a Taiwan Court Hearing Goes Ahead Without an Interpreter
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When a Taiwan Court Hearing Goes Ahead Without an Interpreter

8 min read

Written in response to a news report. Facts and law may have changed since the publication date.

A summons arrives in Chinese. You can order food and talk to your neighbors, but you cannot follow the judge's questions. A friend suggests putting the document into a chatbot. Someone else suggests posting the other party's name and contract online to make them back down. Both problems turn up in the same published commentary.

On September 29, 2026, JURIST published Ross Cline's commentary, When Court Interpretation Failed in Taiwan, I Turned to a Chatbot. Cline identifies himself as the defendant; the accompanying disclosure notes that he is the subject of the proceedings and has a personal interest in how they are discussed.

According to Cline, a court found that he had posted documents containing his landlord's personal data, including the lease. He reports receiving a six-month sentence and says the conviction became final at the Supreme Court on October 16, 2024. He gives these case numbers: Taichung District Court 111 Su 607, Taiwan High Court Taichung Branch 112 Shang Su 3114, and Supreme Court 113 Tai Shang 4256. His account also says that no document was translated for him and that some hearings proceeded without an interpreter. We have not read the judgments, the court file or the summons.

The statutory right to an interpreter

Article 99 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) requires an interpreter for a defendant who has a hearing or speech disability, or who does not understand the language (語言不通). Questions and answers may be put in writing when necessary. The second paragraph extends the same rule to other people being questioned or interviewed, unless another law provides otherwise.

The statute uses 應, meaning “shall.” Providing an interpreter is a statutory duty. Neither a friend in the room nor years of living in Taiwan removes that duty.

Article 99 does not give you the right to choose the interpreter (通譯); the court, prosecutor or officer arranges one. The request should identify the language you actually speak. Everyday Mandarin is not the test. If you cannot follow the questions, the authority needs to know before you answer.

Our column on police questioning and a foreigner's rights covers the first hours at a police station. Article 93-1 also addresses the wait for an interpreter after arrest. If a defendant or suspect needs one and is not questioned while waiting for the interpreter to arrive, up to six hours spent waiting are excluded from the 24-hour period after arrest. During that excluded time, the person is not to be questioned. Waiting is not a chance to “just explain it briefly” without the interpreter.

Getting the request into the record

The request can be plain: “I do not understand Mandarin. I need an interpreter under Article 99.” You can put it in writing as well and ask for it to be recorded. If a hearing starts without an interpreter, the request bears repeating.

Article 41 requires questions and answers to be recorded as they occur. The record must then be read aloud or given to the person to read, and the person must be asked whether it is correct. A lawyer who is present may help the defendant read it and point out errors. Any request to add, delete or change something must also go into the record.

At the end, the person is asked to sign, affix a seal or add a fingerprint. If they refuse, both the refusal and the reason must be noted. A page you cannot understand is not ready for your signature; the interpreter can read it with you first.

Cline says his summons instructed him to bring his own interpreter. Even if it contains that instruction, Article 99 still requires the authority to provide an interpreter when the defendant does not understand the language. You can still ask the court or prosecutor for one. The printed line does not waive the duty.

A chatbot cannot replace the interpreter required under Article 99. Cline describes using two systems to translate a letter from a Taiwanese oversight body and receiving conflicting translations of its central point. A translation tool may help you prepare questions for your lawyer, but a machine translation alone is no basis for filing a document, signing a record or publishing a claim about what a court decided. Reading the operative part with the interpreter or your lawyer is the safer course.

If you still cannot follow the hearing

If you still cannot follow, it is better to pause and ask again for an interpreter and a lawyer before answering questions about the facts. Article 27 allows you to appoint counsel at any time. It also allows a spouse, a parent and certain other relatives to appoint counsel for you even if you have not asked.

If you are writing from abroad, our column on hiring a Taiwan lawyer from abroad sets out the steps. The lawyer will need to know your language, the next hearing date and which documents you have been unable to read.

Witnesses are also covered by paragraph 2 of Article 99. A witness who does not understand the language needs to say so before taking the oath or answering. Suspects must receive separate warnings, including notice of the right to remain silent, as explained in the police-questioning column.

Personal data in a public dispute

Cline also ties his case to the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法). On November 11, 2025, the President promulgated an amendment to Article 41. The Preparatory Office announced that day that the Executive Yuan would set the effective date under Article 56. Its compilation still lists the earlier wording as the law in force and marks the amendment as not yet in force.

Both versions provide for up to five years' imprisonment and an optional fine of up to NT$1 million. The amendment changes which authority may restrict a cross-border transfer.

Under the wording currently in force, a person faces that penalty if they intend to obtain an unlawful benefit or to harm another's interests and, in circumstances sufficient to cause harm, violate Article 6 paragraph 1, Article 15, Article 16, Article 19 or Article 20 paragraph 1, or a cross-border restriction order of the central industry competent authority under Article 21.

The statute database page for Article 41 currently displays the amended wording, which omits the reference to the central industry authority. That wording is not yet the law in force. For a post in a dispute, the rules that matter are those on sensitive data and on collecting and using personal data.

What counts as personal data

Under Article 2, personal data includes a natural person's name, date of birth, national ID number, passport number, contact details, financial situation and other information that can identify the person. Under the same article, a natural person is a non-government agency. A lease often contains a name, an ID number and an address.

Article 19 allows a non-government agency to collect or process personal data other than the sensitive data covered by Article 6 only for a specific purpose and on a listed ground. A contract or similar relationship is one qualifying ground, provided proper security measures are in place. Other grounds include express statutory authorization, information the person has made public and consent; the list is not limited to those examples.

Under Article 20, use must stay within that purpose unless an exception applies, such as consent or preventing serious harm to someone else's rights. Article 6 generally prohibits collecting medical records, medical data, genetic data, information about a person's sex life, health-check data and criminal-record information, subject to listed exceptions.

The household exemption and criminal liability

Article 51 makes the Act inapplicable when a natural person collects, processes or uses personal data solely for a purely personal or household activity. Whether publishing someone's identifying details to pressure them in a dispute qualifies as a household activity cannot be determined from that description alone. Whether a post meets every element of Article 41, including intent and harm, is decided on the facts.

Article 45 requires a complaint for offenses in the penalty chapter, except Article 41, and except Article 42 when it is committed against a government agency. Prosecutors may therefore proceed under Article 41 without a complaint from the person whose data was posted.

Leaving the other person's ID number, address, account numbers, medical notes and criminal-record information out of a post is the safer course. A rent or deposit dispute can be addressed in a letter to the other party or a lawyer. The police-questioning column explains what happens if a post leads to contact from the police.

Help at questioning and before publication

Hovering International Law Firm can attend questioning with you, ask the court to appoint an interpreter and to note the request in the record, and review a post or draft before publication. For a consultation about your Taiwan case, please include in your first email any summons or judgment you have, the language you speak, the next hearing date and the name of any lawyer already representing you. For a concern about an online post, include its URL and the date you published it. A stack of the other person's identity documents is not needed. The firm first checks for conflicts of interest.

Attorney Wei Tseng (曾雋崴) handles these consultations. She can be reached at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw. The office is at 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103, Taiwan (103 臺北市大同區承德路一段35號7樓之2).

The statutory rules alone do not resolve the merits of Mr. Cline's case or establish whether a particular post is an offense.

Sources

Checked: September 30, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I entitled to an interpreter in a Taiwan criminal case if I do not understand Mandarin?
Yes, if you meet the conditions in Article 99 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A defendant who has a hearing or speech disability, or who does not understand the language, must be assisted by an interpreter. Questions and answers may be put in writing when necessary. The same rule applies to other people being questioned, unless another law provides otherwise. Having lived in Taiwan for years does not settle whether you need an interpreter. If you cannot follow the hearing, the court needs to know before you answer.
What if my summons tells me to bring my own translator?
You can still ask the court or prosecutor for an interpreter and ask to have your request recorded. Article 99 uses the word 'shall.' An instruction on the summons does not remove the authority's duty to provide an interpreter. After an arrest, if you need an interpreter and are not questioned while you wait, up to six hours of that wait do not count toward the 24-hour clock. You are not to be questioned during the excluded time.
Can I post my landlord's name, address or lease online because we are in a dispute?
Posting personal data can be a crime if the conduct meets Article 41's requirements. The Personal Data Protection Act currently in force provides for up to five years' imprisonment and an optional fine of up to NT$1 million for someone who intends to gain an unlawful benefit or to harm another's interests, violates the rules on sensitive data or on collection, processing or use, and does so in circumstances sufficient to cause harm to another person. Prosecutors may act under Article 41 without a complaint from that person. Purely personal or household activities fall outside the Act. Whether the exemption covers a public post intended to pressure someone in a dispute cannot be determined from that description alone.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.

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Taiwan Court Interpreters and Personal Data | Hovering Law