以股東協議或章程約定公司法第178 條利害關係之初探

Exploring the Contracting of “Personal Interests” under Article 178 of the Taiwan Company Act by Shareholder Agreement or Articles of Incorporation

公司法第178條要求有利害關係之股東於股東會投票表決時迴避。公司法第206條第4項亦規定第178條準用於董事會，要求有利害關係之董事於董事會迴避。公司法第178條係為防免股東或董事因私忘公，採取了事前的強制迴避之立法模式。然而，公司法第178條在實務的適用上時常引發爭議，故第178條一直為學界討論的熱門問題。另一方面，儘管學界對於公司法第178條的討論方興未艾，卻似乎難以撼動立法者對於該條的執著，短期內也未見修法的可能。因此，在不修改公司法第178條條文之前提下，本文嘗試思考是否有可能透過股東協議或章程約定利害關係，達到在股東間限制第178條的射程範圍以及其他在適用上所產生之問題。本文認為以股東協議或全體股東同意之章程約定利害關係之事項、範圍或解釋方法，在現行法的解釋上並非不可行，且亦能達到降低法律不安性的目的，應可作為現行公司法架構下的折衷方案。

Article 178 of the Taiwan Company Act mandatorily requires conflicted shareholders to themselves at the shareholders’ meeting. Article 206, Paragraph 4 applying Article 178 mutatis mutandis also mandatorily requires the recusal of interested directors at the board of directors’ meeting. The purpose of Article 178 is to prevent shareholders from putting their own interests before the company’s interest. However, the application of Article 178 has been controversial in many cases, and is a highly debated topic among academics and practitioners. Despite the attention received by Article 178, the legislators have remained unconvinced. As of today, there is no plan on the table to amend Article 178. In light of such circumstances, this article explores the possibilities of limiting the scope of Article 178 without amending the legal texts by shareholders contracting “personal interests” by articles of incorporation or shareholder agreement. This article argues that contracting on issues, interpretations or the scope of personal interests by articles of incorporation or shareholder agreement should be legally feasible and reduce legal uncertainties, and can be considered as a middle-ground solution under the current framework of the Company Act.