The High Court rejected former Yangming High School principal Song Qingwei’s appeal for state compensation, holding that the right to claim had expired

The then principal of Taoyuan City Yangming High School, Song Qingwei, was protested by hundreds of teachers and students in 2019, questioning the selection process and disputes during his tenure. He was later deemed unfit by the Taoyuan City Education Bureau and dismissed from his position as principal. Song later filed a complaint with the Supervisory Yuan. The Supervisory Yuan’s investigation in 2024 found that relevant systems and procedures were in violation. Accordingly, Song filed a state compensation claim with the Taoyuan City Government, seeking compensation of 1.2 million yuan, and requested that the city government’s official website permanently announce the investigation report. Song lost the case in the first trial, and the High Court has now dismissed the appeal. He can still appeal.

Song Qingwei claimed that he was formerly the principal of Taoyuan City Yangming High School. The Taoyuan City Government Education Bureau convened a principal selection committee in November 2019. Taking into account factors such as campus harmony and stability and students' rights to education, they determined that he was not suitable for the position of principal and dismissed him.

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Song Qingwei was dissatisfied and lodged a complaint with the Supervisory Yuan. The Supervisory Yuan issued an investigation report in July 2024 and believed that there were violations in the relevant systems and procedures. Song believed that the Taoyuan City Government's procedures for assessing the principal's incompetence and dismissal contained many illegal flaws, and that the dismissal infringed upon his reputation. Therefore, he filed a state compensation lawsuit and requested the Taoyuan City Government to compensate the Taoyuan City Government for moral consolation of NT$1.2 million and publish the full text of the Supervisory Yuan's investigation report on the city government website, which shall never be removed.

In the first instance, the Taoyuan District Court rejected Song Qingwei's request, but Song refused to accept and filed an appeal. The High Court held that as early as July 2022, when Song Qingwei submitted his petition to the Supervisory Yuan, he had specifically claimed that the Taoyuan City Government's relevant dismissal punishment was illegal, and requested the Supervisory Yuan to investigate and hold accountable.

The High Court pointed out that the investigation report produced by the Supervisory Yuan in July 2024 was only an opinion formed after further investigation into Song Qingwei’s previous complaint, and was not a newly generated fact of damage. Therefore, the statute of limitations for the claim for state compensation cannot be restarted based on the time when the investigation report was released.

Song Qingwei did not file a request for state compensation to the Taoyuan City Government until September 4, 2024. It had been more than 2 years since he learned the relevant reasons and facts in July 2022, and the right to claim state compensation has expired.

Therefore, the High Court found that there were grounds for the Taoyuan City Government’s statute of limitations defense, Song Qingwei’s request for a moral consolation payment of NT$1.2 million, and the permanent announcement of the full text of the Supervisory Yuan’s investigation report on the city government’s website. It ruled to reject the appeal and the entire case is still open to appeal.