非自願破產是債務人不能清償債務時，債權人向法院聲請債務人破產的程序。在破產法的早期歷史當中，非自願性破產是聲請破產的唯一形式。十九世紀下半葉以及二十世紀初以來，隨著免責主義與重整制度的逐步完整發展，以及促進債務人經濟復甦這項觀念的受到重視，由債務人主動聲請的自願性破產逐漸成為美國破產制度中的主流。即便如此，非自願性破產在美國破產法的設計當中仍佔有重要的一席之地。相對於自願性破產中由債務人主動發起的破產程序，當債務人無力清償債務，為避免債務人財務狀況的繼續惡化，以致於使債權人的權益受損失，非自願性破產使債權人有權利促使債務人依破產程序處理債務償還，使債權人等在處理債務人的債務問題上，握有一項主動出擊的相對利器。從維護債權人與債務人權益的互相平等著眼，非自願性破產與自願性破產制度其實皆是形成破產法基礎平穩的主要基石，缺一不可。 本文的目的是將美國現行聯邦破產法中的非自願性破產作一整體介紹及分析，進而檢討我國目前破產法中的相關規定，並就司法院於2002年所提出的最新破產法修正草案，提出本文對於非自願性破產的相關意見。 本文最後強調，為因應未來二十一世紀資本主義經濟的快速發展變化，我國破產整體制度必須更健全。本文主張，除非將非自願性破產的概念清楚灌注於我國破產法中，否則將無法完整體現破產制度使債權人得到公平滿足之社會機能。並且，若不將非自願性破產此一關鍵議題研究清澈，之後所有相關的破產議題將無法被正確解讀，而無法進一步開展我國二十一世紀的破產體制新藍圖。

A bankruptcy petition can be filed either voluntary or involuntary. Generally speaking, an involuntary bankruptcy case begins when a creditor (or creditors) files a petition to the court to force the bankruptcy of a person or a business. Unlike a voluntary petition case where a debtor can decide when to file for his own bankruptcy case, involuntary bankruptcy allows creditors to have a powerful weapon to negotiate with a debtor privately or have an opportunity to put a debtor into bankruptcy position to achieve the goal of equitable distribution of debtor’s assets earlier. Even though a large number of bankruptcy petitions are filed voluntarily nowadays, this article first claims that the importance of involuntary bankruptcy cannot be neglected either in the United States or in Taiwan. Furthermore, through examining the United States Bankruptcy Code, this article discusses the current situation of involuntary bankruptcy system in the modern Taiwan. Moreover, this article provides a systematic analysis of Taiwanese involuntary bankruptcy world and, in the end, further suggests an ideal model for the future of Taiwan’s involuntary bankruptcy system, if proper.