History

The Taipei Advocates Union was established during the period Taiwan was under Japanese occupation. In 1945, the Republic of China government assumed control of Taiwan, as well as the Taiwan High Court and the Taipei District Court, from the Japanese Governor-General's Office. In the same year, lawyers practicing in Taipei merged the Taipei Advocates Union and the Law Society of Taipei to form the Taipei Bar Association (TBA). On August 15, 1947, the TBA was officially established under the Lawyers Act.

1973, April- TBA the 13th Board of Directors and Supervisors

The history and development of the TBA may be roughly divided into the following periods:

From 1945-1962

The number of members increased from 19 to 182, and the majority of them were attorneys who came from mainland China.

13 January 1996 - A historic moment: TBA signed the TBA office purchase agreement.

From 1963 to 1971

With greater human resources and finances at its disposal, the association attempted to make improvements in its members' practice. For instance, various POA templates were designed to be purchased for use by members to facilitate signing between the members and clients, as well as to increase the association's income. In 1964, the TBA amended its Articles of Association and created the Lawyers' Disciplinary Committee and the Editing Committee of Lawyers Journal to strengthen attorneys' self-discipline and self-governance and to handle legal publications. During this period, the membership grew slowly; by 1971 there were 509 members.

18 May 1996 - TBA finally has a home: Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the TBA Office.

Between 1972 and 1981

In addition to striving for the members' rights, the TBA endeavored to enhance legal professionalism and took part in social activism. In 1979, the TBA's initiative that lawyers be recognized as qualified to provide land registrations service was supported and approved by the Ministry of the Interior. At the end of June in 1979, the first monthly Lawyers Journal was published. In 1981, a project to construct a TBA building was proposed. During the decade, the membership almost doubled, with a total of 896 members.

TBA Guildhall

Between 1982 and 1990

The TBA membership attained 1,286. The TBA maintained its involvement in social activism. In 1983, the TBA's civil legal aid service began with the prescription of the Guidelines of TBA Legal Aid. In 1987, after martial law was lifted in Taiwan, the TBA championed human rights issues more diligently than before and promoted international legal interchanges.

6 January 2009 - Photo of past and present TBA Presidents.

Between 1990 and 2000

The 19th board of directors pronounced the "Make Voices Heard Externally and Contribute Efforts Internally" as the key driving principle of the association. In addition to announcing the Ten Constitutional Reform Declaration for Facing the Division of National Territory, the TBA took to social movements by participating in the May 20 Pro-democracy March. In July 1990, Lawyers Journal was renamed Lawyers Magazine and published nationally. In 1994, purchase and construction of the association building was adopted by the General Meeting. In January 1996, the association building at the current site was purchased thanks to the donation enthusiastically made by all members. In 1996, the 21th board of directors set up the “Lawyer and Humanity Committee” to conduct various humanity events, enhance the humanistic accomplishment of members and open up the period of diversified association affairs promotion. In 1999, the Rules Governing On-the-job Training of Association Members was established to set up a regular mechanism for on-the-job training of lawyers. In 2000, the relevant provisions of “on-the-job training” were formally stipulated in the Articles of Association. During this period, the number of members increased by times to 2,440.

TBA publications.

Between 2001 and 2010

In order to improve the lawyer system, the TBA proposed amendments to the Lawyers Act to abolish the limitation on bar admissions, to adopt Practice Nationwide with One Bar Admission, and to reform the Taiwan Bar Association. In 2003, the TBA held its first Law and Literature Award Contest. In order to handle the related affairs, the board of directors established the Publication Committee and Law and Literature Committee. In 2004, the Rules Governing Mediation and Resolution of Disputes over Client-Attorney Contract was established to step up self-discipline and self-governance of practicing attorneys. In 2005, “History of the Taipei Bar Association in the 20th Century” was published. The association affairs guiding principle of "Services Come First, Ideas Passed On" had been revealed since the 21th board of directors. In 2007, the advanced course of "Criminal Defense Skills Workshop" was held for the first time. In 2008, the “Measures for Issuing the Course Completion Certificates of On-the-job Training” and “Regulations Governing the Promotion of Strip Course in Specific Domains“ were formulated to complete and deepen the on-the-job system. In 2009, the “Bar Magazine” was renamed ”Dissent” quarterly, building a bridge of communication between the legal professionals and the public and explaining the profound in simple terms with humanistic strokes. In 2010, the Articles of Association was amended to divide the members into main-district members and concurrent-district members, to reduce the membership fees in order to alleviate the burden of membership, and to take the lead in the planning of "Lawyer Liability Insurance" for members in order to diversify the risks associated with the practice of members and protect the rights and interests of the clients.

Changed the quarto Lawyer’s Journal into Lawyer’s Magazine and further revised into today’s Dissent Quarterly.

From 2011 until now

Since December 2011 the on-the-job training childcare service has been conducted. In 2016, the "Family Day" event was held for the first time. Since the same year, the TBA has been working on courses for the secretaries at members’ firms, and has edited and published the "Guide to Work as a Secretary at the law firm," making the association be felt at home. In January 2014, online tutor for on-the-job training was piloted on YouTube. On January 1, 2017, the online on-the-job training audio and video platform of "TBA Cloud" was installed and officially launched. In 2014, in response to the changes in the practice ecology resulted from a large number of admissions from the bar examination, the General Meeting approved the overall reduction of the membership fee, and in particular, a half-price discount was given to new members to alleviate the burden in the practice of members. In 2016, in response to amendments to the Attorney Regulation Act, the draft version of the amendments to the Attorney Regulation Act was proposed, including the concepts of “Practice Nationwide with One Bar Admission” and "Taiwan Bar Association Organizational Change." In 2017, the 28th joint boards of directors and supervisors resolved to withdraw from the Taiwan Bar Association to promote the amendments to the Attorney Regulation Act, which on September 9 of the same year, was adopted by the General Meeting through a majority vote of all the members attending the Meeting. In November 2017, the preparatory office of Taiwan Bar College was set up to implement the goals of improving the cultivation of Taiwan lawyers and enhancing the competitiveness of Taiwan lawyers. In July 2018, the second journal of the association, “The Lawyers” was published.

Dissent Quarterly.