論董事會組成與法人代表董事

法人代表董事制度具高度爭議，卻廣為公司與政府使用。其中公司法第27條第3項給予法人股東「改派權」－可隨時改派代表人補足原任期，為我國之特殊制度。本文旨在統整美國公司法制「任期中改變董事會組成」之規範，並反思我國公司法制彈性與改派權的設計。此外，在我國法人代表董事法制之現況下，本文關注以責任論設計除弊興利，故通盤性的統整我國實務見解如何處理「法人－代表人」責任歸屬，研究相關理論，並提出分析。以德拉瓦州與紐約州公司法為例，其董事會組成機制相當彈性：董事會或特定董事得派任缺位，且得透過章程或章程施行細則安排創造缺位、派任缺位、股東書面決議與召集股東臨時會等規範與程序，亦得約定相當於改派權的效果；我國公司法缺位與補選之規範不若美國彈性，僅改派權得做為「任期中改變董事會組成」之特殊方式。美國僅有自然人董事，然股東仍會與董事安排連結關係，有學者以「指派代表董事」稱之；我國改派權亦為「股東與董事連結的工具」，此為股東需求之本質，相對於刪除此制度，重點應在於遏止不當使用。在不刪除法人董事制度的前提下，本文認為可將改派權設計為「章程選擇訂入」；在責任歸屬解釋上，本文建議「法人－代表人」應強化「責任一體」：透過民法第28條，令法人須就其代表人之行為對外負擔連帶責任。促使股東在「法人代表董事」與「自然人董事」制度間妥善選擇，並由代表人董事謹慎治理。

關鍵字

董事會組成；法人代表；改派權；派任缺位；責任歸屬；代表董事

並列摘要

The system of legal person directors and their representatives as directors is highly controversial while widely adopted by corporates and the government. Among whom Article 27, Paragraph 3 of the Company Act grants legal person shareholders the “replacement right”: a unique rule in Taiwan - representative directors can be replaced at any time to fill the remaining term. This dissertation aims to introduce the legal regime of “changing the board composition during tenure” in the United States and reflects on the flexibility of Taiwan’s corporate legal system and the design of the replacement right. In addition, under the current situation of Taiwan’s representative directors of legal persons, this dissertation focuses on the liability rules to improve the regime, so it integrates the courts’ judgments on “legal person-representative” accountabilities, studies related theories, and proposes analysis. The mechanism of the board composition under Delaware General Corporation Law and New York Business Corporation Law is quite flexible: a majority of the remaining directors may fill the vacancies. Also, by amending the certificate of incorporation or bylaw, shareholders and the board of directors can arrange the rules of vacancy creation, shareholders’ written consent, and special meetings. Moreover, shareholders and the board of directors can arrange the replacement right through private ordering. On the other hand, the rules of board vacancies and by-elections in Taiwan are not as flexible as Delaware and New York. Nevertheless, the replacement right serves as the special manner toward “changing the board composition during tenure.” Although the corporate laws in the United States only allow natural persons to act as directors, shareholders will still arrange “ties” with the directors, which the scholars refer to as “constituent directors.” The replacement right is also a manner for connecting shareholders and directors. Such “ties” originate from the shareholder needs, so the focus should be preventing improper use but not prohibiting the manners itself. Under the premise of not repealing the legal person director regime, this dissertation suggests that the replacement right can redesign as an “opt-in” provision in the certificate of incorporation. In addition, this dissertation asserts that the liability between legal persons and their representative directors should be integrated. Under Article 28 of the Civil Code, the legal persons shall bear joint and several liabilities for the actions of their representatives. The responsibility may urge shareholders to make a choice properly between appointing the legal person representatives and natural persons as directors and impels the representative directors to manage the company prudently.