Family Act Article 47
This English translation was last updated on 2012-01-11, but the Chinese text was amended on 2023-06-21. Later amendments may not be reflected in the translation — please refer to the Chinese text.
Upon the delivery of the complaint to the court, the presiding judge shall, taking into account the nature of the case, draw up a plan for conducting the proceedings, and designate dates for the oral argument proceedings at an appropriate time.Except as otherwise provided in the statutory law, the means of attack or defense for the establishment of the respective cases shall be presented at an appropriate time, judging by the phase the litigation is in, prior to the conclusion of oral-argument proceedings.Where a party has willfully or through gross negligence delayed in presenting an attack or defense so as to delay the conclusion of the litigation, the court, in making a decision on the case, may take into account the causes that might have given rise to the delay in presenting the attack or defense.Paragraph 2 of Article 196, Paragraph 2 of Article 268-2, Article 276, Article 444-1 and Article 447 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to circumstances provided in Paragraph 3 of Article 47 with regard to matters involving divorce, termination of adoptive relation, partition of inheritance or other matters subject to the parties’ own disposition.In circumstances provided in Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 47, the parties shall be granted an opportunity to present their arguments.Where a claim may be joined with other claims, amended, added or where a counter-claim may be made upon the parties’ statements, the court shall elucidate those circumstances to the relevant parties.