A seized phone does not always have to stay in custody until the criminal case ends. Under Article 142 of Taiwan’s Code of Criminal Procedure, an item no longer needing retention must be returned by court ruling or prosecutor’s order without waiting for the case to conclude.
Start with the seizure receipt
Article 139 requires a receipt detailing the seized items to be given to the owner, holder or custodian. Check the device description. A model or identifying number can help distinguish your phone from another item in the same investigation. Keep the receipt and case number together.
Ownership does not itself require immediate return. Article 133 permits seizure of items that may be evidence or subject to confiscation, and separately provides for seizure to preserve recovery of equivalent value. Needing the phone for work does not remove those grounds.
In a request for return, identify the item, your status as owner, holder or custodian, and why you consider continued retention unnecessary. An American visitor’s planned departure is useful practical information to include. A flight booking alone does not establish a duty to release the device.
Temporary return carries a duty of safekeeping
Can the item be released temporarily? Article 142 also permits temporary return at the request of an owner, holder or custodian, with responsibility for keeping it safe. Temporary return is discretionary. Read any conditions governing how the item must be preserved.
Explain separately whether you need the physical phone or particular files. The third paragraph of Article 142 allows an owner, holder or custodian with a legitimate reason to request copies during trial on prepayment of expenses. It does not promise unrestricted copying of all phone data during an investigation.
Court review of a prosecutor’s disposition
For a person subject to a prosecutor’s seizure or return disposition, Article 416 provides a route to ask the court to which the prosecutor belongs to cancel or change it. This discussion concerns prosecutors’ dispositions. Police actions and court rulings require their own assessment of the issuing authority and type of decision.
The period is ten days. Article 416 runs it from the disposition, or after service where the disposition is served. Under Article 417, written reasons go to the competent court. Repeatedly contacting an office to request the phone back should not be assumed to pause this review period.
If you receive a refusal, retain the complete document and evidence of when you received it with the seizure receipt. Those records identify whose disposition affects which item and let counsel assess the remaining route and deadline.
Official sources
- Taiwan Code of Criminal Procedure 133
- Taiwan Code of Criminal Procedure 139
- Taiwan Code of Criminal Procedure 142
- Taiwan Code of Criminal Procedure 416
- Taiwan Code of Criminal Procedure 417
Checked: October 7, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Must I wait until the criminal case ends to get a seized item back?
- No. Article 142 requires return by court ruling or prosecutor’s order when continued retention is unnecessary, without waiting for the case to end. It also allows temporary return on request by an owner, holder or custodian, with a duty of safekeeping; approval is not automatic.
- How do I challenge a prosecutor’s decision about return?
- A person subject to a disposition covered by Article 416 may ask the court to which the prosecutor belongs to cancel or change it. The period is ten days from the disposition, or after service where it is served. Article 417 requires written reasons submitted to the competent court. This is not a universal route for every police action or court ruling.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.
