Abstract
Taiwan has a relatively small land area and high population density; it is therefore perhaps inevitable that Taiwan’s citizens should attempt to make use of slopeland for various purposes. When a landslide occurs on slopeland (which can happen for a number of different reasons), people’s lives and property are put at risk; extensive utilization of slopeland obviously increases the incidence of such disasters. In Taiwan, not only do slopeland disasters occur frequently, the scale of the injury and loss that they cause far exceeds that resulting from the other types of natural disaster that have become so common in recent years due to the impact of climate change. Ideally, government agencies should be helping Taiwan’s citizens to prevent and mitigate this type of disaster. Remedial construction measures are one effective way of tackling this problem. However, the contracts governing construction projects differ from those relating to ordinary business transactions, in that the sums of money involved tend to be very large, and the content of the contracts tends to be extremely complex. As a result, when an emergency does occur and needs to be managed, it can be a major challenge for the personnel of government agencies to ensure effective performance of the emergency provisions of the relevant construction contracts; in addition, government agencies need to give due weight to both their obligation to provide service for the nation’s citizens and their responsibility to ensure efficient utilization of the government’s budget. The aim of the present study is to provide the regulatory authorities with legal suggestions regarding the handling of slopeland related emergencies, and to consider whether a more flexible approach needs to be adopted when slopeland disasters occur. The research relies mainly on a review of the literature and on case studies. The review of the literature involves bringing together information on the legal basis for handling slopeland related disasters in Taiwan and overseas, as well as other legal writings. The cases discussed in these materials are collated and analyzed to identify the most important case categories, before undertaking appraisal of the relevant legal issues and of how the law is applied in practice. The two main legal issues that are addressed in the study are as follows: (1) Key issues affecting the handling of emergencies, and the apportionment of responsibility. (2) Emergency procurement procedures for government agencies (including the implementation of government agencies’ own internal procedures, key issues affecting the legality of purchasing agreements, and key issues affecting the legality of the selection of contractors and suppliers). In this study’s findings show that there is a need for a comprehensive overhaul of Taiwan’s existing laws and regulations regarding the handling of slopeland related emergencies, including the Disaster Prevention and Rescue Law, the Soil and Water Conservation Act, the Government Procurement Law and the relevant sub-statutes. The various laws and regulations need to be integrated to form a coherent whole, so that the government agencies who deal with individual slopeland emergency cases, can achieve administrative goals efficiently and ensure conformity to the law. The study also finds that the emergency procurement laws and regulations adopted in other countries, such as Federal Acquisition Regulations in the U.S., are recommended as guideline for Taiwan. To conclude, this research is aim to be as a reference of a revision of laws and regulations in the future for Taiwan.