The Development of the Legal System of Natural Disaster Management in Taiwan

• In Event: Crisis or Turning Point: Continuity and Rupture of the Taiwanese Legal System and Social Changes

Abstract

In August 2009, Typhoon Morakot seriously damaged south Taiwan and the residents there. The copious amounts of rainfall by the typhoon triggered enormous mudslides and flooding, which not only blocked many roads to the indigenous communities but also buried several mountain villages. Many Taiwanese indigenous people were trapped in remote areas, running out of food and water. Public infrastructures and private houses in the indigenous tribes were severely destroyed.

Along the history, Taiwan has been frequently struck by typhoons and earthquakes, and the natural hazards have caused emergent needs and long-term problems. For example, after Typhoon Morakot, many Taiwanese indigenous people were either displaced by the disaster or relocated by the government from their destructed homelands to designated sites. The displaced people usually lost their livelihoods and unique culture. While they desperately need legal protection for safety and dignity, disaster laws in Taiwan have developed slowly and been unable to address the issues associated with natural disasters.

In order to discuss issues about natural disaster in Taiwan in context, this paper examines the development of natural disaster management in Taiwan, including the lack, emergence, as well as the progress and deterioration of disaster laws. This paper also uses the event and follow-up of Typhoon Morakot to analyze the application of disaster laws in the Taiwanese society. By discussing the general framework and practice of disaster laws in Taiwan, this paper aims to demonstrate advantages and disadvantages of the developing Taiwanese disaster legal system and to propose possible legal advancement.

Author

• Yung-hua Kuo, School of Law, University of Washington