This research project is to study and analyze the legal system of the practice of hearing in Taiwan and to review the differences of the public participation between the hear ing and other formats of participation under different regulations. The Research Team acknowledges the process of hearing is a formal and more considerable process of participation for the public, which has been recognized, by the J.Y. Interpretation No. 709, as the administrative due process, the one of the constitutional principles. Further, the Team would discuss how the hearing might be applied to the decision making process for environmental policy and development project. By this research, we anticipate that the involvement of the hearing process into the current process of environmental decision-making would enhance the democracy and justification to the final decision of environmental policy and development project. As we believe, for improving the acceptance of environmental decision, the application of hearing to the current legal system would be significant approach. Finally, the adoption of the hearing would better our current legal system of the decision-making process and provide us a promising optimistic future for our environmental protection.

Hearing, Due Process, Public Participation