Court Organization Act Article 17

A district court shall establish a Public Defenders' Office staffed by public defenders with position rankings of grades 7 to 9 of the recommendation rank, or grades 10 to 11 of the selection rank. If there are two or more public defenders in an office, then there may be one position of the Director of Public Defenders, who shall be staffed by a public defender with a position ranking of grade 9 of the recommendation rank, or grade 10 to 12 of the selection rank.A tenured public defender who has served with excellent performance for more than 15 years and whose qualifications are verified, may be promoted to grade12 of the selection rank.A public defender, who has served in a high court or its branch court, or in the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, for more than four years, and who is transferred to a district court or its branch court with excellent performance and whose qualification is verified, may be promoted to grade 12 of the selection rank.The seniority of a public defender, whose seniority accrues from serving as a public defender in a high court or its branch court, and/or the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, shall be combined for overall seniority calculation.The review processes pertinent to the provisions in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be determined by the Judicial Yuan.For those who have the qualifications to practice law, the duration of time spent serving as a public defender shall accrue towards their seniority of legal practice.