Supreme Court of South Korea

Supreme Court of
the Republic of Korea
대한민국 대법원

Badge of the Court
Established 1948
Country South Korea
Location Seocho, Seoul, South Korea
Authorized by South Korean Constitution
Judge term length Six years (renewable until mandatory retirement at the age of 70)
No. of positions 14
Website www.scourt.go.kr
Chief Justice of Korea
Currently Yang Sung-tae
Since 2011
Jurist term ends 2017
Supreme Court of Korea
Korean name
Hangul 대법원
Hanja 大法院
Revised Romanization Daebeobwon
McCune–Reischauer Taebŏbwon

The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest court in South Korea. It is located in Seoul. Articles 101–110 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea establish the Supreme Court and enumerate its powers and responsibilities. Although the Supreme Court is the highest court for most legal issues, the Constitutional Court of Korea is the court of last resort for more specialized constitutional issues such as impeaching presidents or dissolving political parties.

Composition

South Korea
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Republic of Korea
Constitution

The Supreme Court of Korea is composed of the Chief Justice of the Republic of Korea, and 13 other Supreme Court Justices, 12 of which have adjudicatory functions. The 13th justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the Chief Justice as the Minister of Court Administration, and does not participate in rendering judicial opinions.

The Chief Justice of Korea is appointed to the court by the President with the consent of the National Assembly of South Korea, and serves a non-renewable term of six years from the time of appointment. The Chief Justice acts as the head of the judicial branch of the Republic of Korea, and has broad administrative powers under the Constitution, including the right to recommend other justices to the Supreme Court and the right to appoint judges of the inferior courts. The current Chief Justice is Yang Sung-Tae.

The 13 other Justices are appointed to the court by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Justice and the consent of the National Assembly, and serve renewable terms of six years.

By law, to be eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court, a person must be over 40, and have spent at least 15 years:

For the most part, Supreme Court Justices are appointed from the bench.

Supreme Court Justices are required to retire at age 70.

Research judges

The Supreme Court also employs a number of research judges, whose function is to assist the Justices in researching their opinions. These research judges may either be assigned to a particular justice, or else belong to a 'pool' that provides assistance to any Justice. The research judges are appointed from among the judges of the other courts, usually presiding judges of the district courts or else associate judges of the high courts. As of September 2012, there are 106 research judges including 1 Chief research judge and 1 Senior research judge. In addition, there are 10 non-judge researchers.

Jurisdiction

As the court of last resort for the Republic of Korea, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over cases in the South Korean legal system. Additionally, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over challenges to the validity of a presidential or parliamentary election and the power to review the constitutionality and legality of rules, orders, regulations, and actions of administrative entities.

Procedure

Petty Benches

The Supreme Court is organized into three Petty Benches, each consisting of four Justices. Normally, the Petty Benches hear cases from the lower courts, which they may overturn by consensus. Should the Petty Bench assigned to a case fail to reach a consensus, the case will be heard by the Grand Bench.

The Grand Bench

The Grand Bench must be composed of more than two-thirds of the Justices and be presided over by the Chief Justice. Unlike the Petty Benches, the Grand Bench can enter judgments by simple majority, rather than needing a consensus. If no majority can be reached amongst the Justices sitting on the Grand Bench, the judgment of the lower court is sustained by default. In addition to cases that fail to garner a consensus in one of the petty benches, the Grand Bench also hears cases where it is deemed that any order, rule, or regulation is in violation of the laws or the Constitution, where a previous opinion of the Supreme Court needs modification, or in cases where adjudication by the Petty Benches would not be appropriate.

Administrative function

In addition to its adjudicative functions, the Supreme Court is also responsible for the administration of the South Korean court system.

The Supreme Court Justices Council

The Supreme Court Justices Council comprises the highest body of court administration in the Republic of Korea. This council is presided over by the Chief Justice, with all of the Justices of the Supreme Court sitting on the Council. The Council has the power to promulgate the rules of procedure for the Supreme Court and lower courts, select judicial precedents for publication, request the budget for the judicial branch, and rule on other matters which are referred to it by the Chief Justice. In addition, the Council is responsible for confirming the nominations of the Chief Justice of judges for the lower courts.

To pass a resolution, the Justices Council requires a quorum of more than two-thirds of the Justices of the Supreme Court, a majority of which must approve of the proposed measure. The Chief Justice has a vote on the Council, and is given the prerogative to cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie.

The National Court Administration

The National Court Administration is headed by the Minister of the National Court Administration, and handles much of the daily operation and general administrative duties of the judicial branch. The Minister and Vice Minister of the National Court Administration have the right to address the National Assembly and the State Council on issues related to court administration.

Location

The court and its administrative offices are housed in a 66,500 square meter building located at 967 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. This has been the home of the Supreme Court of South Korea since December 1, 1995. Before moving to its new building, the court was housed in a 10,300 square meter building built in 1928 as well as two annex buildings at 37 Seosomun-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul.

See also

Name Born Appointed by Recommended by Education First day /
Length of service
Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae

(Chief Justice)

January 26, 1948
(age 69)
in Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Seoul National University September 25, 2011
5 years, 10 months
Kim Yong-deok, Kim Yong-deok November 20, 1957
(age 59)
in Seoul 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University January 3, 2012
5 years, 7 months
Park Poe-young, Park Poe-young March 13, 1961
(age 56)
in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Hanyang University January 3, 2012
5 years, 7 months
Ko Young-han, Ko Young-han February 7, 1955
(age 62)
in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University August 13, 2012
5 years
Kim Chang-suk, Kim Chang-suk March 2, 1956
(age 61)
in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Korea University August 13, 2012
5 years
Kim Shin, Kim Shin March 30, 1957
(age 60)
in Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University August 13, 2012
5 years
Kim So-young, Kim So-young November 17, 1965
(age 51)
in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do 		Lee Myung-Bak, Lee Myung-Bak Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University November 2, 2012
4 years, 9 months
Jo Hee-de, Jo Hee-de June 6, 1957
(age 60)
in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do 		Park Geun-hye, Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University March 4, 2014
3 years, 5 months
Kwon Soon-il, Kwon Soon-il July 26, 1959
(age 58)
in Nonsan, Chungcheongbuk-do 		Park Geun-hye, Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University September 8, 2014
2 years, 11 months
Park Sang-ok, Park Sang-ok November 13, 1956
(age 60)
in Siheung, Gyeonggi-do 		Park Geun-hye, Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University May 8, 2015
2 years, 3 months
Lee Ki-taik, Lee Ki-taik July 9, 1959
(age 58)
in Seoul 		Park Geun-hye, Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University September 17, 2015
1 year, 11 months
Kim Jae-hyung, Kim Jae-hyung January 23, 1965
(age 52)
in Imsil, Jeollabuk-do 		Park Geun-hye, Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University September 5, 2016
11 months
Cho Jae-youn, Cho Jae-youn June 1, 1956
(age 61)
in Donghae, Gangwon-do 		Moon Jae-in, Moon Jae-in Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Sungkyunkwan University July 19, 2017
1 month
Park Jung-hwa, Park Jung-hwa October 3, 1965
(age 51)
in Haenam, Jeollanam-do 		Moon Jae-in, Moon Jae-in Yang Sung-tae, Yang Sung-tae Korea University July 19, 2017
1 month

Coordinates: 37°29′32″N 127°00′19″E / 37.4922°N 127.0052°E / 37.4922; 127.0052

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