財團法人之治理與誠信經營——借鏡CSR及ESG之規範方法

The Governance and Ethics in Management of a Foundation–Learning from the Methodology of CSR and ESG

我國民法在民國18年(即西元1929年，本文統一使用西元年)制定時，對於財團法人除法人一般規定外，僅有7條關於登記和管理的規定。直至2007年起財團法人法草案四進四出立法院，終於在2018年公布制定財團法人法，並於2019年2月1日施行，此係第5度立法闖關成功，乃有因應國際洗錢防制評鑑之背景原因。
然而從民法到財團法人法的時空遞嬗，對於私法人組織的治理及經營已有許多嶄新的法制思潮改變，對映公司治理的理論演進，從過往股東至上轉為更加重視利害關係人；以及法制思維的轉變，從過往的硬法，到發展出更加多元的軟法—透過管理層面達到法制目標，藉此方向檢視目前財團法人的治理與經營，其規範目標在於更加有效發揮非營利組織的功能。
從梳理非營利組織的演進及治理理論，可觀察到非營利組織的治理特色，而將之與法律制度連結，放眼外國主要立法例、大陸法系和普通法系相對視角暨近來立法趨勢，均可提供我國財團法人進一步適用法律的參考。由於我國財團法人法立法時有其預設的規範目標，復加長期以來累積的本土特色，當由前述較宏觀的法制技術、外國相關立法及制度設計、發展較為成熟的公司治理制度等觀點再加檢視，均可發現我國財團法人的相關法律制度仍有優化空間。
另輔以針對我國各主管機關對於誠信經營規範分散制定的內容分析，以及本土案例在處理財團法人治理方面的議題，可發現法律適用時的莫衷一是，亦可察覺財團法人仍有許多規範不足，許多疑義待解決。從而透過以上的分析，期能整理出我國財團法人在法律制度上，在盡量不啟動修法而得以更加精進的面向，以符合國際潮流和切實發揮非營利組織功能之目標，進而提出本文的建議作法。

When the Civil Code of the Republic of China was promulgated in the 18th year of the Republic (equivalent to 1929 AD, and for consistency, this article will use the AD system), it included only seven provisions related to the registration and supervision of foundations, aside from general regulations concerning legal persons. It was not until 2007 that the draft of the Foundation Act was repeatedly submitted to the Legislative Yuan, ultimately leading to the promulgation of the Foundation Act in 2018, which came into effect on February 1, 2019. The completion of this legislation marked the fifth legislative attempt and was driven by the need to align with international anti-money laundering evaluations.
However, with the temporal evolution from the Civil Code to the Foundation Act, numerous emerging legal perspectives have reshaped the governance and management of private legal entities. Reflecting the theoretical evolution of corporate governance, the focus has shifted from shareholder primacy to agreater emphasis on stakeholders, alongside atransformation in regulatory tendencies—from traditional hard law to amore diversified soft law approach, aiming to achieve regulatory objectives through managerial practices. By examining the current governance and management of foundations through this lens, the normative goal is to more effectively realize the functions of nonprofit organizations .
By analyzing the evolution and governance theories of nonprofit organizations, the distinctive features of nonprofit governance can be observed. When these features are linked to legal frameworks and viewed through the lens of major foreign legislative examples, as well as comparative perspectives between civil law and common law systems and their recent legislative trends, valuable references can be drawn for the further application of Taiwan’s Foundation Act. Given that Taiwan’s Foundation Act was legislated with specific normative objectives and has accumulated unique local characteristics over time, areassessment from the broader perspectives of legal techniques, relevant foreign legislation, institutional design, and the more mature development of corporate governance systems reveals that there is still room for improvement in Taiwan’s legal framework governing foundations.
Additionally, by analyzing the fragmented regulations on ethical management issued by various regulatory authorities in Taiwan, as well as examining local cases related to the governance of foundations, it becomes evident that there is confusion in the application of laws. This analysis also reveals significant regulatory gaps and unresolved issues within the governance of foundations. Consequently, this study aims to identify areas within Taiwan’s legal framework governing foundations that can be enhanced without initiating legislative amendments, with the goal of aligning with international trends and effectively realizing the functions of nonprofit organizations. Based on these findings, this study will also propose recommended approaches.