A multi-legal system or conflicts of different legal traditions: Case of Taiwanese legal reform in communication law

The legal culture on Taiwan Island has not only ancient Chinese influences but also stout foreign colors, as a result of the Western imperialism in the 16^th century and from the late 19^th to mid-20^th centuries. In 1945, the Nationalist government brought the new Chinese legal system from Mainland China to Taiwan, a landmark event in Taiwanese legal development. The resulting legal system is based on both the distinctive Chinese legal traditions and the Western European legal regime. From then on, the Taiwanese legal system, with substantial European traits, can be considered as a member of the family of "civil law" systems. In the following three decades, the people and the Nationalist government endeavored to create a freer market as well as democracy on this small island. Because of the rapid creation of new technology and the growth of economic development, the government has adopted a series of steps to restructure its legislation to fit international requirements such as the liberalization of communications market. Reviewing the development of legal history and the formation of its economic market, one may conclude that Taiwan in general has been strongly touched by foreign influences and has tended toward internationalization. Does Taiwan's communications legislative development still follow this model, or has the government already found a particular way to structure its own communications legal system? If the legislature follows a particular pre-existing model to establish the communications legal system, which model of legislation will it adopt and why? In addition, how did international agreements influence Taiwan's communications development? And how did the government adopt those agreements into its communications regulations? This essay aims to describe and examine the communications legal adjustments on Taiwan Island. Efforts will also be made to evaluate these developments in light of the current international environment in this regard.