Supreme Court of South Korea

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.

Supreme Court of
the Republic of Korea
대한민국 대법원
Badge of the Court
Established1948
LocationSeocho, Seoul, South Korea
Authorized bySouth Korean Constitution
Judge term lengthSix years (renewable until mandatory retirement at the age of 70)
Number of positions14
Websitewww.scourt.go.kr/supreme/supreme.html
Chief Justice of Korea
CurrentlyKim Myeong-soo
Since25 September 2017 (2017-09-25)
Supreme Court of Korea
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationDaebeobwon
McCune–ReischauerTaebŏbwon

Composition
South Korea
This article is part of a series on the
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the Republic of Korea
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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 Kim Myeongsu.

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:

  • as a judge, public prosecutor, or lawyer or
  • engaged in legal affairs at the state organs, local governments, state-run or public enterprises, state-financed institutions while qualified as a lawyer or
  • in an office higher than assistant professor in the field of jurisprudence at an authorized college or university while qualified as a lawyer.

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

Justices are required to retire at age 70.

Current justices
Name Born Appointed by Recommended by Education First day /
Length of service
Kim Myeong-soo

(Chief Justice)

 October 12, 1959
(age 61)
in Busan		 Moon Jae-in (Directly) Seoul National University September 25, 2017
3 years, 4 months
Park Sang-ok November 13, 1956
(age 64)
in Siheung		 Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University May 8, 2015
5 years, 8 months
Lee Ki-taik July 9, 1959
(age 61)
in Seoul		 Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University September 17, 2015
5 years, 4 months
Kim Jae-hyung January 23, 1965
(age 56)
in Imsil		 Park Geun-hye Yang Sung-tae Seoul National University September 5, 2016
4 years, 4 months
Cho Jae-youn June 1, 1956
(age 64)
in Donghae		 Moon Jae-in Yang Sung-tae Sungkyunkwan University July 19, 2017
3 years, 6 months
Park Jung-hwa October 3, 1965
(age 55)
in Haenam		 Moon Jae-in Yang Sung-tae Korea University July 19, 2017
3 years, 6 months
Ahn Chul-sang March 5, 1957
(age 63)
in Hapcheon		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Konkuk University January 2, 2018
3 years, 1 month
Min You-sook January 31, 1965
(age 56)
in Seoul		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Seoul National University January 2, 2018
3 years, 1 month
Kim Seon-soo April 23, 1961
(age 59)
in Jinan		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Seoul National University August 2, 2018
2 years, 6 months
Lee Dong-won February 7, 1963
(age 57)
in Seoul		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Korea University August 2, 2018
2 years, 6 months
Noh Jeong-hee October 7, 1963
(age 57)
in Gwangju		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Ewha Womans University August 2, 2018
2 years, 6 months
Kim Sang-hwan January 27, 1966
(age 55)
in Daejeon		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Seoul National University December 28, 2018
2 years, 1 month
Rho Tae-ak November 20, 1962
(age 58)
in Changnyeong		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Hanyang University March 4, 2020
11 months
Lee Heung-gu May 30, 1963
(age 57)
in Tongyeong		 Moon Jae-in Kim Myeong-soo Seoul National University September 8, 2020
4 months

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

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