The Act addresses eight categories of repeated or continuous, unwanted conduct connected to sex or gender that causes fear and can affect daily or social life. It also extends to specified people close to the targeted person even where the conduct is not related to sex or gender. Police must issue a written warning when their investigation finds suspicion of a stalking offense; repeated conduct within two years after that warning can support a court protection-order application. The basic Article 18(1) offense requires a victim's complaint; the aggravated Article 18(2) offense involving a weapon or other dangerous object does not. Violating a protection order is a separate offense. For family members or qualifying intimate partners, protection orders follow the Domestic Violence Prevention Act instead.
What conduct falls within the Act?
Article 3(1) requires repeated or continuous conduct against a specific person, against their wishes, related to sex or gender, causing fear and capable of affecting daily life or social activity. Its eight categories include monitoring or following movements; waiting or approaching the person's home, school or workplace; threats, insults or disparagement; phone or internet interference; unwanted pursuit or contact; sending or displaying words, images, sounds or objects; conveying reputation-damaging information; and misusing personal data or ordering goods or services without consent.
Article 3(2) also covers comparable repeated unwanted conduct toward the target's spouse, lineal blood relatives, cohabiting relatives or others with a close social relationship to the target, even if that conduct is unrelated to sex or gender, when the same fear and daily-life impact requirements are met.
How is a police written warning obtained?
Police receiving a report must investigate promptly, make a written record and explain the victim's rights and services (Art. 4(1)). If the investigation finds suspicion of a stalking offense, police must issue a written warning on their own initiative or at the victim's request (Art. 4(2)). Either the person accused or the victim may object — to the warning, or to a refusal to issue one — within ten days after receiving notice, through the original police agency to its superior (Art. 4(3)).
When can a protection order be requested?
If the person engages in stalking again within two years after a police written warning, the victim may apply to a court for a protection order (Art. 5(1)). If the victim is a minor, has a disability, or cannot appoint a representative for another reason, the victim's spouse, legal representative, or blood relative or relative by marriage within the third degree may apply on their behalf. Prosecutors and police may also apply on their own initiative. There is no court fee for applying for, changing, extending or appealing the order (Art. 5(2)–(3)).
Under Article 5(4), if the parties are family members as defined in domestic-violence law, or current or former intimate partners who qualify under that law without having lived together, the protection-order application is made under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act instead. This is a rule about which protection-order procedure applies; it should not be read as a blanket exclusion of every other stalking-law provision.
What can a protection order require, and for how long?
Where, after the hearing, the court finds stalking conduct and an order necessary, it must, on application or on its own initiative, issue a protection order containing one or more of these measures (Art. 12(1)): prohibiting specified conduct and requiring distance from places, barring access to the victim's household registration data, requiring a therapeutic program, or other necessary prevention measures. Under Article 13, an order lasts up to two years and can be revoked, changed or extended before expiry; each extension is up to two years.
What are the criminal penalties?
Under Article 18(1), stalking is punishable by up to one year's imprisonment or short-term detention and/or a fine of up to NT$100,000. Carrying a weapon or other dangerous object raises the range to up to five years or short-term detention and/or a fine of up to NT$500,000 (Art. 18(2)). The basic Article 18(1) offense is complaint-only (Art. 18(3)); the usual complaint period is six months after learning the offender's identity (Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 237). The aggravated Article 18(2) offense does not require a victim's complaint.
Violation of a court order's specified measures under Article 12(1)(1)–(3) is a separate offense punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or short-term detention and/or a fine of up to NT$300,000 (Art. 19). Proceedings for these offenses are not public (Art. 20).
實行跟蹤騷擾行為者，處一年以下有期徒刑、拘役或科或併科新臺幣十萬元以下罰金。攜帶凶器或其他危險物品犯前項之罪者，處五年以下有期徒刑、拘役或科或併科新臺幣五十萬元以下罰金。第一項之罪，須告訴乃論。（跟蹤騷擾防制法第18條第1項至第3項）
Unofficial English summary (not an official translation): Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act Article 18(1) to (3) sets up to one year for basic stalking, up to five years if carrying a dangerous object, possible fines, and a complaint requirement for the basic offense.
When should I seek advice?
Consider advice if behavior continues after a warning, you are unsure whether to seek an order or file a complaint, or family or intimate-partner rules may apply. If you face immediate danger, call 110. This page is general information, not advice on an individual case.
Hotline: Ministry of Health and Welfare, 113 Protection Hotline ↗.