Due to lawsuit changes, 'filing period' exceeded... Supreme Court: "Based on the time of lawsuit filing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has ruled that there is no problem even if the filing period is exceeded when a general civil lawsuit is filed and then changed to an administrative lawsuit.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) overturned the lower court's dismissal of Mr. A's lawsuit against Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) for ownership transfer registration and remanded the case to the Suwon High Court on the 11th.

Mr. A was selected as a supply target under the 'Factory Relocation Measures' and was notified by LH in 2019 of an administrative disposition to cancel the sales contract. Accordingly, Mr. A filed a lawsuit demanding LH to fulfill the sales contract, but unaware that it should have been filed as an administrative lawsuit, he filed a general civil lawsuit.

The court, which accepted the administrative lawsuit belatedly, assigned it to the administrative tribunal only after several months. Subsequently, Mr. A corrected the claim purpose to meet the lawsuit requirements.

During the trial, LH argued, "Mr. A received the cancellation notice in January, but the filing period of 90 days from the cancellation notice date has been exceeded."

The first trial court ruled in favor of Mr. A, stating that although the lawsuit was changed after the filing period had passed, there was a reason beyond his responsibility for not complying with the filing period.

On the other hand, the second trial court dismissed the case, stating that Mr. A should have corrected the claim purpose within two weeks from the time the case was assigned to the administrative tribunal, but he exceeded this period. A dismissal is a ruling made without examining the merits when the lawsuit does not meet legal requirements. It has the same effect as the plaintiff losing because the plaintiff's claim is not recognized.

However, the Supreme Court overturned the second trial court's decision, stating, "Whether the plaintiff complied with the filing period should, in principle, be judged based on the time the lawsuit was initially filed," and ordered a retrial.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.