Signing a settlement and withdrawing a criminal complaint are two separate acts in Taiwan. No article was found that makes a private settlement erase a complaint. As of October 2026, the Code of Criminal Procedure attaches its effects to the second act: the complainant withdrawing the complaint (撤回告訴).
Which injury offenses need a complaint
Criminal Code Art. 287 lists three offenses prosecuted only on complaint (告訴乃論): Art. 277, paragraph 1 (injury to another person's body or health); Art. 281 (violence against a lineal blood ascendant that causes no injury); and Art. 284 (injury by negligence). This column covers the first and the last. The proviso carves out one case only. A public official who commits the Art. 277, paragraph 1 offense while carrying out official duties falls outside the complaint requirement.
Injury that causes death or serious injury is Art. 277, paragraph 2. It is not on the list, so the complaint period and withdrawal rules below do not apply to it. Negligence that causes serious injury stays inside Art. 284 and remains complaint-only.
Six months, counted for each person
The complaint period is six months. Under Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 237, it runs from the time a person entitled to complain learns who the offender is. If several people are entitled and one of them misses the period, the others are not affected.
Who is entitled? A victim may complain (Art. 232), and so may the victim's statutory agent or spouse, independently (Art. 233, para. 1). An authorized agent may file the complaint. The written authorization goes to the prosecutor or judicial police officer, and either may order the complainant to appear in person when they consider it necessary (Art. 236-1).
Sometimes an investigation is already under way and nobody has complained. Under Art. 242, paragraph 2, a prosecutor or judicial police officer who finds during an investigation that all or part of the facts amount to a complaint-only offense with no complaint filed must ask the victim, or any other person entitled to complain, whether they wish to complain. The question is put when that person appears and gives a statement, and the answer goes into the record.
Withdrawal is open until oral argument closes
In a complaint-only case, the complainant may withdraw the complaint before oral argument closes at first instance. The person who withdraws may not complain again (Art. 238). A complaint against one accomplice, or a withdrawal for one, takes effect for the other accomplices too (Art. 239).
After a withdrawal, the stage of the case decides what follows. During the investigation the prosecutor must issue a non-prosecution disposition under Art. 252, item 5. Once the case has been indicted, the court must pronounce a judgment that the case is not entertained (不受理) under Art. 303, item 3. Withdrawing before the settlement money arrives is the subject of a separate column.
When mediation counts as withdrawal
Four conditions appear in Art. 28, paragraph 2 of the Township and County-Administered City Mediation Act (鄉鎮市調解條例). The matter is a complaint-only criminal case. Mediation succeeds during the investigation or before oral argument closes in the court of first instance. The mediation agreement (調解書) states that the parties agree to withdraw. And the court approves it (核定). When all four are met, the complaint or private prosecution (自訴) is deemed withdrawn at the time mediation succeeded.
The Act places these committees in township, town and county-administered city offices (鄉、鎮、市公所, Art. 1), and Art. 35, paragraph 2 applies it to district (區) mediation committees in special municipalities and cities. Within ten days of the day mediation succeeds, the office must send the mediation agreement and the file to the referring or competent court for review (Art. 26, para. 1). Without court approval there is no deemed withdrawal.
Art. 27 adds two effects after approval. The parties may not sue, complain or bring a private prosecution over that matter again. Where an approved criminal mediation provides for payment of a fixed quantity of money, other fungible things or securities, the mediation agreement may also serve as an enforcement title (執行名義).
What if mediation fails? Under Art. 31, when a person entitled to complain applied for mediation of a complaint-only criminal matter and the mediation does not succeed, the office refers the matter to the competent prosecutor for investigation, on the application that person made to the mediation committee. The complaint is then deemed to have been filed at the time mediation was applied for. The six months of Art. 237 are tested against that deemed filing.
A non-confidential outline giving the settlement date, the withdrawal wording in any mediation agreement and whether a court has approved it can be sent to Hovering International Law Firm at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw.
Official sources
- Criminal Code of the Republic of China (中華民國刑法), Laws and Regulations Database of the Ministry of Justice: Articles 277, 281, 284, 287
- Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法): Articles 232, 233, 236-1, 237, 238, 239, 242, 252, 303
- The Township and County-Administered City Mediation Act (鄉鎮市調解條例): Articles 1, 26, 27, 28, 31, 35; official English title and the term "mediation agreement" from the English edition of the database
- Amendment histories of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Code and the Mediation Act: the latest amendments, promulgated May 13, 2026 (Article 101-1), July 22, 2026 (Article 80) and January 13, 2023 (Articles 3, 6, 9 and 32), do not change the articles cited here.
Checked: October 12, 2026
This article is general information based on Taiwan statutes checked on October 12, 2026. It is not legal advice on any individual case.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Until when can a complaint be withdrawn after settling an injury case in Taiwan?
- For offenses prosecuted only on complaint, such as injury under Criminal Code Art. 277, paragraph 1 and negligent injury under Art. 284, the complainant may withdraw before oral argument closes at first instance, and the person who withdraws may not complain again (Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 238). If mediation succeeds during the investigation or before oral argument closes in the court of first instance, the mediation agreement states that the parties agree to withdraw, and the court approves it, the complaint or private prosecution is deemed withdrawn when mediation succeeded (Township and County-Administered City Mediation Act Art. 28, para. 2). Based on the statutes as of October 2026.
- Does withdrawing the complaint end a Taiwan case where the injury was serious?
- Criminal Code Art. 287 lists Art. 277, paragraph 1, Art. 281 and Art. 284 as offenses prosecuted only on complaint. Art. 277, paragraph 2, which covers injury causing death or serious injury, is not on that list, so the rules that end a complaint-only case after withdrawal (Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 252, item 5 and Art. 303, item 3) do not cover it. Negligence causing serious injury is inside Art. 284 and is on the list.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.
