History[edit]
In old Korea, many disputes were settled by de facto, informal mediators like elder member of the community or family without making their way to the court.[1] However, as Korea modernized, lawsuits increased dramatically. The total number of civil cases filed in 2002 was 1,015,894 which went up to 1,288,987 in 2006.[2] The South Korean legal system effectively dates from the introduction of the original Constitution of the Republic of Korea and the organization of South Korea as an independent state. During the existence of the Republic of Korea, the Constitution has been revised or rewritten several times, the most recent of which was in 1987 at the beginning of the Sixth Republic.
The Court Organization Act, which was passed into law on 26 September 1949, officially created a three-tiered, independent judicial system in the Republic of Korea.
The revised Constitution of 1987 guaranteed that judges would not be removed from office for any reason other than impeachment, criminal acts, or incapacity. Additionally, the 1987 Constitution officially codified judicial independence in Article 103, which states that, "Judges rule independently according to their conscience and in conformity with the Constitution and the law." In addition to the new guarantees of judicial independence, the 1987 rewrite of the Constitution established the Constitutional Court, marking the first time that South Korea had an active body for constitutional review. [1]
Judicial System[edit]
The judicial system of the Republic of Korea is composed of the Supreme Court of South Korea, the Constitutional Court of South Korea, six High Courts, 13 District Courts, and several courts of specialized jurisdiction, such as the Family Court and Administrative Court. In addition, branches of District Courts may be established, as well as Municipal Courts. South Korean courts are organized and empowered in chapters V and VI of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.
There is no system of juries in the judicial system of South Korea, although since February 2, 2008 a limited provision for advisory juries has been introduced for criminal cases and environmental cases, and all questions of law and fact are decided by judges.
Municipal Courts[edit]
The Municipal Courts only exercise original jurisdiction over minor cases, such as small claims cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed 20 million won or misdemeanor trials in which the maximum possible sentence is 30 days in jail or a fine not exceeding 200,000 won. There are currently 103 municipal courts in South Korea.
District Courts[edit]
The 18 District Courts have original jurisdiction over most civil and criminal cases. Additionally, the District Court appellate panel may exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases in which a single District Court or Branch Court judge has rendered the decision. In most cases, a single judge hears the case and renders a verdict, although in particularly important or serious cases, a trial panel of three judges may hear the case and render a decision. An appellate panel is also composed of three District Court judges.
Branch Courts[edit]
Branch Courts are organized under and considered a part of the District Courts. The Branch Courts function much as the District Courts do, but lack any appellate function. There are currently 40 Branch Courts in South Korea.
High Courts[edit]
The six High Courts have appellate jurisdiction over cases decided by a trial panel of three judges in a District Court or Family Court, decisions of the Administrative Court, and civil cases heard before the District Court in which one judge decided and where the amount in controversy exceeds 50,000,000 won. Appeals to the High Court are heard by a panel of three High Court judges. High Courts are located in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejon, and Gwangju. Additionally, a special panel of the Gwangju High Court has been established in the Jeju District Court.
Judges[edit]
The qualification of the judges is delegated by the Korean Constitution to the Court Organization Act. In the Court Organization Act Article 42 states that those who passed the National Judicial Examination and have completed the two-year training program at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (JRTI), or those who obtained qualifications as lawyers are eligible for becoming a judge. Though a small number of the judges are selected from practicing attorneys, an overwhelming number of them became judges right after graduation from the JRTI. The judicial reform in 2009 which established U.S. style law schools in lieu of the JRTI also requires the new judges to have a few years of law practice.
Judges in South Korea are nominated for their position by the Chief Justice of the Republic of Korea and subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court Justices Council (a council composed of Justices of the Supreme Court). Judges serve terms of 10 years, and may be re-appointed to their positions. The nomination process and terms of service above do not apply to Justices of the Supreme Court or to Justices of the Constitutional Court, each of which has its own nomination process and term of service. See Supreme Court of South Korea and Constitutional Court of South Korea for the regulations for each.
The Constitution states that judges may not be removed from their offices except through impeachment, conviction of a crime and sentencing to imprisonment, or if they should become unable to discharge their duties due to serious mental or physical impairment. The Court Organization Act sets the retirement age of judges as 63; for Supreme Court justices, who are technically not "judges", he retirement age is 65.
Prosecutors[edit]
The Korean legal system belongs to the Continental Inquisitorial system which is markedly different from the English adversarial system. It was modeled after European continental system such as German and French judicial structure. Like Chinese procurator and European and Japanese prosecutor, Korean prosecutors directly or indirectly conduct criminal investigations. They involve themselves in judicial procedure by conducting investigations, determination indictable cases,and prosecution process.
Korean prosecutors contributed to successful prosecution of many highly-ranked officials and renowned conglomerate business leaders, including former two presidents(1995) and sons of incumbent presidents (1997 and 2002 respectively). Especially in 1997, South Korean prosecutions service contributed to imprisonment of the son of incumbent president, Kim Hyeon Chul, which happened for the very first time in the world judicial history. As the result of successful, even relentlessly fair probings and prosecutions on corporate crimes, they often face criticism from corrupt politicians and business leaders, whether prosecutor's application on laws may be too severe and harsh.
Two scandal cases right before the presidential election in 2012 gave huge blows to the fame of Korean prosecutors and this brought in the abolishment of "Grand central investigational team"in prosecution service, which was replaced by "anti-corruption team" in Seoul central district of Prosecution service(in 2013). This was a downsized format of the Grand central investigational team in overall structure, i.e. personell and scale. Also the Korean government introduced specially-appointed prosecutor's organization(in 2014), when it comes to handling huge corporate-beauraucrat scandals requiring supreme level of transparency and objectivity . Specially-appointed prosecutors will be chosen by votes of national assembly members.
However, it has been really controversial whether the abolishment of grand central investigation team was inevitable, as it had accomplished substantial achievments in effective prosecution of huge corruption-corporate crimes (during the period between 1981-2013). In addition, there are doubts whether or not the objectivity of specially-appointed prosecutors would be guaranteed when the appointment is being made by members of national assembly. If the majority of national assembly members don't want the criminal case investigated, then it is likey that the case will not be handled at all.
During the Lee Myung Bak government, Korean prosecutors often faced criticism over seemingly lenient prosecution of several cases, which was known to be related to President Lee's national project and his relatives. Plus, they sometime are blamed of suspicious leniency of investigating prosecutors themselves. However. since election of the President Park, Korean prosecution service has been making efforts on self-purification process in eliminating corruptions. They also are making endeavours in succession to the past Korean prosecution service's effective and objective processing of criminal investigations. .[3]
Criminal Procedures[edit]
Rules of Evidence[edit]
The Korean rules of Evidence confers a high probative value to so called suspect interrogation record produced by the prosecutors; Which is "a protocol containing a statement of a suspect or of any other person, prepared by a public prosecutor or a judicial police."[4] This document is technically a hearsay under the English American legal system though and contains a record of confession made without assistance of legal counsel. While either the police officer or prosecutor can produce a suspect interrogation record, one made by a prosecutor is admissible if the suspect confirms the genuineness of the Record at a preparatory hearing or during the trial. If the suspect denies the genuineness, the Record could still be admissible if there is a circumstantial guarantee of trustworthiness. However, the Record made by a police officer is inadmissible if the Suspect denies the genuineness later in the process.[5]
The suspect can confirm genuineness by signing the Record at the end which then is presumed to have confirmed it. Another way to confirm is by sub
History[edit]
In old Korea, many disputes were settled by de facto, informal mediators like elder member of the community or family without making their way to the court.[1] However, as Korea modernized, lawsuits increased dramatically. The total number of civil cases filed in 2002 was 1,015,894 which went up to 1,288,987 in 2006.[2] The South Korean legal system effectively dates from the introduction of the original Constitution of the Republic of Korea and the organization of South Korea as an independent state. During the existence of the Republic of Korea, the Constitution has been revised or rewritten several times, the most recent of which was in 1987 at the beginning of the Sixth Republic.
The Court Organization Act, which was passed into law on 26 September 1949, officially created a three-tiered, independent judicial system in the Republic of Korea.
The revised Constitution of 1987 guaranteed that judges would not be removed from office for any reason other than impeachment, criminal acts, or incapacity. Additionally, the 1987 Constitution officially codified judicial independence in Article 103, which states that, "Judges rule independently according to their conscience and in conformity with the Constitution and the law." In addition to the new guarantees of judicial independence, the 1987 rewrite of the Constitution established the Constitutional Court, marking the first time that South Korea had an active body for constitutional review. [1]
Judicial System[edit]
The judicial system of the Republic of Korea is composed of the Supreme Court of South Korea, the Constitutional Court of South Korea, six High Courts, 13 District Courts, and several courts of specialized jurisdiction, such as the Family Court and Administrative Court. In addition, branches of District Courts may be established, as well as Municipal Courts. South Korean courts are organized and empowered in chapters V and VI of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.
There is no system of juries in the judicial system of South Korea, although since February 2, 2008 a limited provision for advisory juries has been introduced for criminal cases and environmental cases, and all questions of law and fact are decided by judges.
Municipal Courts[edit]
The Municipal Courts only exercise original jurisdiction over minor cases, such as small claims cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed 20 million won or misdemeanor trials in which the maximum possible sentence is 30 days in jail or a fine not exceeding 200,000 won. There are currently 103 municipal courts in South Korea.
District Courts[edit]
The 18 District Courts have original jurisdiction over most civil and criminal cases. Additionally, the District Court appellate panel may exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases in which a single District Court or Branch Court judge has rendered the decision. In most cases, a single judge hears the case and renders a verdict, although in particularly important or serious cases, a trial panel of three judges may hear the case and render a decision. An appellate panel is also composed of three District Court judges.
Branch Courts[edit]
Branch Courts are organized under and considered a part of the District Courts. The Branch Courts function much as the District Courts do, but lack any appellate function. There are currently 40 Branch Courts in South Korea.
High Courts[edit]
The six High Courts have appellate jurisdiction over cases decided by a trial panel of three judges in a District Court or Family Court, decisions of the Administrative Court, and civil cases heard before the District Court in which one judge decided and where the amount in controversy exceeds 50,000,000 won. Appeals to the High Court are heard by a panel of three High Court judges. High Courts are located in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejon, and Gwangju. Additionally, a special panel of the Gwangju High Court has been established in the Jeju District Court.
Judges[edit]
The qualification of the judges is delegated by the Korean Constitution to the Court Organization Act. In the Court Organization Act Article 42 states that those who passed the National Judicial Examination and have completed the two-year training program at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (JRTI), or those who obtained qualifications as lawyers are eligible for becoming a judge. Though a small number of the judges are selected from practicing attorneys, an overwhelming number of them became judges right after graduation from the JRTI. The judicial reform in 2009 which established U.S. style law schools in lieu of the JRTI also requires the new judges to have a few years of law practice.
Judges in South Korea are nominated for their position by the Chief Justice of the Republic of Korea and subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court Justices Council (a council composed of Justices of the Supreme Court). Judges serve terms of 10 years, and may be re-appointed to their positions. The nomination process and terms of service above do not apply to Justices of the Supreme Court or to Justices of the Constitutional Court, each of which has its own nomination process and term of service. See Supreme Court of South Korea and Constitutional Court of South Korea for the regulations for each.
The Constitution states that judges may not be removed from their offices except through impeachment, conviction of a crime and sentencing to imprisonment, or if they should become unable to discharge their duties due to serious mental or physical impairment. The Court Organization Act sets the retirement age of judges as 63; for Supreme Court justices, who are technically not "judges", he retirement age is 65.
Prosecutors[edit]
The Korean legal system belongs to the Continental Inquisitorial system which is markedly different from the English adversarial system. It was modeled after European continental system such as German and French judicial structure. Like Chinese procurator and European and Japanese prosecutor, Korean prosecutors directly or indirectly conduct criminal investigations. They involve themselves in judicial procedure by conducting investigations, determination indictable cases,and prosecution process.
Korean prosecutors contributed to successful prosecution of many highly-ranked officials and renowned conglomerate business leaders, including former two presidents(1995) and sons of incumbent presidents (1997 and 2002 respectively). Especially in 1997, South Korean prosecutions service contributed to imprisonment of the son of incumbent president, Kim Hyeon Chul, which happened for the very first time in the world judicial history. As the result of successful, even relentlessly fair probings and prosecutions on corporate crimes, they often face criticism from corrupt politicians and business leaders, whether prosecutor's application on laws may be too severe and harsh.
Two scandal cases right before the presidential election in 2012 gave huge blows to the fame of Korean prosecutors and this brought in the abolishment of "Grand central investigational team"in prosecution service, which was replaced by "anti-corruption team" in Seoul central district of Prosecution service(in 2013). This was a downsized format of the Grand central investigational team in overall structure, i.e. personell and scale. Also the Korean government introduced specially-appointed prosecutor's organization(in 2014), when it comes to handling huge corporate-beauraucrat scandals requiring supreme level of transparency and objectivity . Specially-appointed prosecutors will be chosen by votes of national assembly members.
However, it has been really controversial whether the abolishment of grand central investigation team was inevitable, as it had accomplished substantial achievments in effective prosecution of huge corruption-corporate crimes (during the period between 1981-2013). In addition, there are doubts whether or not the objectivity of specially-appointed prosecutors would be guaranteed when the appointment is being made by members of national assembly. If the majority of national assembly members don't want the criminal case investigated, then it is likey that the case will not be handled at all.
During the Lee Myung Bak government, Korean prosecutors often faced criticism over seemingly lenient prosecution of several cases, which was known to be related to President Lee's national project and his relatives. Plus, they sometime are blamed of suspicious leniency of investigating prosecutors themselves. However. since election of the President Park, Korean prosecution service has been making efforts on self-purification process in eliminating corruptions. They also are making endeavours in succession to the past Korean prosecution service's effective and objective processing of criminal investigations. .[3]
Criminal Procedures[edit]
Rules of Evidence[edit]
The Korean rules of Evidence confers a high probative value to so called suspect interrogation record produced by the prosecutors; Which is "a protocol containing a statement of a suspect or of any other person, prepared by a public prosecutor or a judicial police."[4] This document is technically a hearsay under the English American legal system though and contains a record of confession made without assistance of legal counsel. While either the police officer or prosecutor can produce a suspect interrogation record, one made by a prosecutor is admissible if the suspect confirms the genuineness of the Record at a preparatory hearing or during the trial. If the suspect denies the genuineness, the Record could still be admissible if there is a circumstantial guarantee of trustworthiness. However, the Record made by a police officer is inadmissible if the Suspect denies the genuineness later in the process.[5]
The suspect can confirm genuineness by signing the Record at the end which then is presumed to have confirmed it. Another way to confirm is by sub
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